Orange Black Sesame Cookies
These Orange Black Sesame Cookies are not only beautiful but also one of most unique cookies out there. Filled with orange zest and a swirl of black sesame paste, these cookies are the epitome of a not-too-sweet dessert. In this post, learn all the ins and outs on how to make the perfect cookies every time.
I added orange to my Chai Latte Cookies last year, and I am never looking back. Orange is such an underrated cookie flavor! So for the first cookie of the year, I thought it would be cool to combine its tart flavor with the nutty flavor of black sesame paste. These orange black sesame cookies are so unique, and I absolutely love them!
How I came up with the look for these cookies
I knew I wanted to make something with orange and black sesame, and I knew I wanted them to LOOK like they had both in them, so I decided to do something a little different. Unlike my other black sesame desserts like my black sesame chocolate chip cookies where I fully incorporated the black sesame, for these cookies, I simply swirled the black sesame paste into the cookies. I was nervous about this method since any extra moisture can cause the cookies to spread a lot, but thankfully, they didn’t spread too much. I added an extra tablespoon of flour to make sure the cookies maintained their shape.
The key to getting that swirly look is to swirl the black sesame paste just enough. You still want some of the golden cookie dough to appear, and you don’t want too much of the black sesame paste incorporated into the dough. That would create essentially a black cookie. I would recommend using a knife or offset spatula for the best results!
Making these orange black sesame cookies (with tips!)
- First, brown 1/2 cup of unsalted butter. Heat the butter over medium high heat until it melts, then lower to medium low and cook until brown bits start to appear. Stir constantly for even browning. Pour into a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Combine 1 cup + 2 tbsp of all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp of baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a separate bowl. Mix and set aside.
- Tip #1: The best way to measure flour is to scoop it into a measuring cup then leveling it off. Scooping flour with your measuring cup will compact the flour, causing you to use more than you need to.
- Pour 1/4 cup of granulated sugar into a small bowl. Add 1 tbsp of orange zest and rub the sugar into the zest until the sugar turns light orange and is the texture of wet sand.
- Pour the sugar into the bowl with the browned butter. Follow that with 1/2 cup of light brown sugar. Mix until combined.
- Add the egg and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Tip #2: I like to mix it until it has a light brown color. This ensures your sugars, egg, and butter are fully mixed together.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients (from step 2). Mix until just combined. Follow that with 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and mix until combined.
- Tip #3: Be careful not to over mix the dry ingredients. This will cause gluten formation, making your cookies tough.
- Scoop 1 1/2 tbsp of black sesame paste onto the dough. I like to separate it into 3 scoops around the dough. See image for reference. Using a knife, swirl the black sesame paste into the cookie dough.
- Cover and let the dough cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prep 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper.
- Using a #20 cookie scoop (3 tbsp scoop), scoop the dough onto the prepped baking sheets.
- Tip #4: Make sure to level off the cookie dough when it is in the cookie scoop. This helps you achieve consistent shaped cookies.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until the edges are slightly brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Tip #5: I always like to make the cookies more round by using a round cookie cutter to shape the cookie. Place it around the cookie and move in a circular motion to get that perfect round shape.
Did you make this dish?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.
Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.
Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!
Get the Recipe:
Orange Black Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 ½ tbsp black sesame paste
Instructions
- First, brown ½ cup of unsalted butter. Heat the butter over medium high heat until it melts, then lower to medium low and cook until brown bits start to appear. Stir constantly for even browning. Pour into a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Combine 1 cup + 2 tbsp of all purpose flour, ½ tsp of baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt in a separate bowl. Mix and set aside.
- Pour ¼ cup of granulated sugar into a small bowl. Add 1 tbsp of orange zest and rub the sugar into the zest until the sugar turns light orange and is the texture of wet sand.
- Pour the sugar into the bowl with the browned butter. Follow that with ½ cup of light brown sugar. Mix until combined.
- Add the egg and ½ tsp of vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients (from step 2). Mix until just combined. Follow that with ½ cup of chocolate chips and mix until combined.
- Scoop 1 ½ tbsp of black sesame paste onto the dough. I like to separate it into 3 scoops around the dough. See image for reference. Using a knife, swirl the black sesame paste into the cookie dough.
- Cover and let the dough cool in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prep 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper.
- Using a #20 cookie scoop (3 tbsp scoop), scoop the dough onto the prepped baking sheets.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes until the edges are slightly brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Hello Becca! I fell into a bit of the pickle with this recipe and I was hopping you could help me figure out where I went wrong. I’m not one to comment on a recipe or mess up a cookie, but um… mine held their shape.
I realized that when I was mixing the dry and the wet ingredients that the dough was very dry to the point I had knead it with my hands. Now after I’ve chilled and baked them for the allotted time they’ve held their ball shape out of the oven.
I’m very curious so I will be trying one and seeing how they taste. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a problem with your recipe and probably a me problem so any idea where I went wrong?
It does sound like a imbalance between wet and dry ingredients given how dry the dough is. There is either too much flour or not enough wet ingredients. I would recommend using less flour (1-2 tbsp less maybe). A couple things could cause this off the top of my head. 1) Flour was scooped with the measuring cup instead of flour being scooped into the the measuring cup. Scooping with the measuring cup compacts the flour and you end up using more than intended. 2) Too much liquid evaporated from browning the butter. I typically wait until brown bits start to appear and take it off the heat right away.
These were so good! My local coffee shop makes a black sesame matcha that I absolutely love, so I absolutely had to try this. I was a little hesitant with all of the different flavors, but they turned out so well!
The flavor combination seems odd but they work! Better than I thought they would. Thank you so much for trying this recipe out!