SESAME 3-WAYS SUGAR COOKIE

My next cookie is based on an Internet famous cookie – the infamous cookie goddess Sarah Keiffer’s Neapolitan Cookies ! She has included them in her first cookbook – 100 Cookies, which is my daughter’s highly used cookbook. My daughter has made her brownies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, and a few others, without any assistance from me.

Her cookies became a viral sensation, and they are so pretty to look at too, with the cream, pink and brown colors. My cookies are adapted from her recipe, but they are not neapolitan cookies! They are slightly different. They are based on one of my favorite ingredients – sesame!

MY INSPIRATION

My inspiration comes from the sesame brittle or chikki that is widely available by street hawkers in Mumbai and Pune. They are a hard candy, made with white sesame seeds and jaggery and a little bit of ghee. That is it.

Growing up, we would go often to Pune or Lonavala, which were within 2 to 3 hours driving distance from Mumbai. We would buy the different kinds of chikki available from the stores in these cities – like peanut chikki, sesame chikki, channa chikki and so on. 

Few years ago I made a black sesame chikki with black sesame seeds and jaggery. I had put pieces of this brittle in a black sesame ice cream that I had made. This was one of my favorite flavors back then!

BLACK SESAME VERSUS WHITE SESAME

The most obvious difference between black and white sesame seeds will be the color. The color difference results from the fact that black sesame seeds are unhulled, while white sesame seeds have had their hulls removed to reveal the white inner parts of the seeds. You can read more about it here. 

BENEFITS OF SESAME SEEDS

Some of the benefits of sesame seeds are:

1. Good Source of Fiber
2. May Lower Cholesterol and Triglycerides
3. Nutritious Source of Plant Protein
4. May Help Lower Blood Pressure
5. May Support Healthy Bones
6. May Reduce Inflammation
7. Good Source of B Vitamins
8. May Aid Blood Cell Formation

You can find this information on www.healthline.com

COOKIE INGREDIENTS

Here are the list of ingredients that are used in the cookie dough:

• Dry ingredients: All purpose flour, baking soda and salt. The baking soda helps the cookie spread.
• Unsalted Butter: Always make sure that the butter is at room temperature.
• Granulated Sugar: Helps to get those crispy edges on a cookie.
• Egg and egg yolk: Helps to bind the cookie dough and also give it texture.
• Vanilla extract: I always use a lot in my bakes because so much flavor comes from a simple ingredient like vanilla extract.

COOKIE TRANSFORMATION

My cookie uses sesame in 3 ways:

• Original Tahini : Available at Trader Joe’s or any middle eastern market.
• Black Tahini : Available on Amazon
• Halvah + Rose Water + Pink food gel : Halvah is available on Amazon or any middle eastern market.

The black tahini is linked here.

The Halvah is linked here.

The dough is divided into 3 equal parts. Each part is mixed in the stand mixer with one of the above ingredients, to get a cream, black and pink dough.

I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, to scoop out each colored dough to get equal portions. I got this idea from www.hummingbirdhigh.com Michelle’s blog post! Love the idea of using the 1 tablespoon cookie scoop! I take one colored scoop from each of the three doughs and bind it together to form one ball. Roll it out in sugar and place it on a baking sheet, and bake for 10-11 minutes.

The cookie is garnished immediately with white and black sesame seeds, halvah and edible dried rose petals.

This cookie is the chef’s kiss! I am blown away by HOW GOOD THIS COOKIE IS. Even my non-sesame loving husband LOVED This cookie, which says a lot to me! 

Please try this cookie and thank me later! It is absolutely divine and will be a crowd pleaser!

ANOTHER TIP

If you want a smaller cookie, you can use a ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, and make smaller balls, to make smaller cookies. Bake time will vary – maybe to 6-8 minutes (you would have to try it out!). Butttt you will get more cookies out of this one batch!

Hope you get to try this cookie! If you do, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post! 

XO

Amisha

Sesame 3-ways Sugar Cookie

December 8, 2022

by Amisha

Category Cookies Foodie Gifts

Persons

16

Ingredients

• 16 cookies
• For the sugar cookie dough:
• 2 ¾ (360g) cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons black tahini
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 tablespoons halvah
• ½ teaspoon rose water
• 2 drops Americolor food gel Soft Pink
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• Garnish:
• 2 tablespoons black sesame
• 2 tablespoons white sesame
• Halvah
• Edible dried rose petal

Instructions

1. For the sugar cookie dough:
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a medium bowl, add the all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, whisk to combine.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add the sugar and butter. At medium high speed, whisk them together for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow, and fluffy.
5. Using a rubber spatula, bring the mixture together in the middle of the bowl.
6. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract, and mix until well incorporated.
7. On slow speed, add the dry ingredients, and mix until well combined.
8. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Weigh your dough, so that you get equal distribution. Dough should be around 980 grams.
9. Put one part of the dough, back into the stand mixer. Add the tahini, and on slow speed, mix to incorporate. Remove into a bowl and set aside.
10. Put the second part of the dough back into the stand mixer. Add the halvah, rose water and pink food gel, and on slow speed, mix to incorporate. Remove into a bowl and set aside.
11. Put the third part of the dough back into the stand mixer. Add the black tahini, and on slow speed, mix to incorporate. Remove into a bowl and set aside.
12. Set 3 baking sheets, with parchment paper ready.
13. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out 16 balls for each dough, and place it in a line format on a baking sheet.
14. Take one ball from each color - cream, black, pink, combine them like playdough by pinching the doughs and roll it into a ball.
15. Roll it in the bowl with the granulated sugar and place it on a baking sheet.
16. Repeat for 5 more balls. Place 6 balls about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place the sheet in the middle lower rack of the oven and bake for about 10 to 11 minutes.
17. Remove from the oven and bang it against the kitchen counter 2 to 3 times for the cookie to settle.
18. *Garnish:*Immediately garnish with the black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, halvah and a couple edible dried rose petals, on each cookie. Cool completely.
19. Repeat and bake for the remaining 10 cookies.
20. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for upto a week (if they last that long!).

Tags

black tahini halvah,

cookies,

foodie gifts,

sesame,

tahini

https://thejamlab.co/2022/12/08/sesame-3-ways-sugar-cookie/