Black Sesame Chocolate (of any kind) Cookies
Get the recipe for these AMAZING cookies, and see some other fun tidbits!
Let’s talk about chocolate chip cookies. Until recently, I attempted to convince myself of a very sophisticated palette in which my favorite baked goods were probably French and difficult to pronounce. Don’t get me wrong, a few of those items exist (hello, gibassier!), but I finally had to admit that I LOVE American pastries. If I end up in a French pastry shop I find myself searching for the usual cookies or a nice, fluffy biscuit.
Okay, but what about chocolate chip cookies? They’re somewhat elusive, right? It would appear as though there’s a narrow range of what can and cannot be a chocolate chip cookie, and yet everyone has their own recipe. And there are even variations of methods within a given recipe. This is when it gets down to the fine details: okay, do I melt and brown the butter, simply combine the butter and sugar, or whip the butter/sugar combo until it’s pale and fluffy? And yet, in the midst of a million variations I still find myself contemplating, but what is MY go-to chocolate chip cookie? What recipe can I put out in the world that oozes ‘classic comfort’ and also ‘fun and unique’? UGH. I give up chocolate chip cookie - you win!
Part of my longstanding issue with writing a newsletter is that I already reference many newsletters and many cookbooks, and my inspirtation for recipes comes from these incredible creators. I think many recipe developers would agree that it’s difficult to start a recipe from a blank slate. Instead, you build off of previous experience and fine-tune something you’ve been using for a long time. In my experience, what can sometimes make the best recipe is really working with it and understanding every nuance at every step of the instructions. I can get more into this later when discussing the biscuits I used to make at Alma. Needless to say, I am not as experienced as the cookbook authors or blog creators that I reference, so I have resolved to state these inspirations outright. Hopefully, I can give you a roadmap of where you want to go with your baking and key you into the work of some incredible bakers.
Okay, but what about chocolate chip cookies? I have so many tidbits on where you can seek out recipes or advice on tweaking your chocolate chip cookie. First, I’ll list some general thoughts on the ingredients of this cookie. We could also talk extensively of cookie methods, but I’ll save that for another day. I’ll also be giving you a recipe for black sesame chocolate (of any kind) cookies. I’ll end with a few of my Twin Cities faves.
INGREDIENTS:
Butter: I generally stick to pliable, room temperature butter in my cookies. Yes, many recipes ask for browned butter (to provide this nutty, toffee-like flavor). In my experience, though, the flavor boost doesn’t live up to it’s reputation. If you want to try browning the butter, remember that you’ll be losing mass and water as the butter comes to a boil before the solids brown. You can expect to lose about 15-20% of the butter mass (in water) during browning, so I like to add this weight back into the recipe as water.
Sugar: Today’s recipes, surprisingly, uses all granulated sugar. Generally, I wouldn’t gravitate toward this sugar ratio in a chocolate chip cookie. Brown sugar does give you that deep, caramel flavor and provides chew through its ability to hold onto moisture. I generally think somewhere around a 50/50 ratio is great for classic cc cookies. My favorite, non-sesame recipe, uses slightly more granulated sugar.
Eggs: Eggs are still a bit elusive to me. In general, I don’t really alter the amount of eggs in a recipe unless I’m scaling down the entire batch (I often scale to 1-egg batches when I’m trying a recipe for the first time). The recipe I’m sharing here today calls for an egg plus an additional yolk - lending some richness. You can opt out of the yolk if you can’t commit to using a partial egg. If you’re interested in the wonder of eggs in a cc cookie, check out these one-yolk (only!) cc cookies by Buttermilk by Sam (another great baker to follow).
Salt: Here’s my little secret: I almost always double the amount of salt that a cookie recipe calls for. I love a salty cookie - especially when it also contains chocolate. Maybe you’ve experienced a chocolate chip cookie with flaky salt on top, which I do strongly encourage. Don’t double the salt in the following recipe because I’ve already taken care of that step.
Vanilla: A brief note on vanilla: it’s expensive! If I owned a bakery, I would throw excessive vanilla in all of my recipes. But I often bake without vanilla because it is so expensive. When I break out the vanilla extract/paste, you know I’m adding something really special and I must care about you.
Leavening: I could devote an entire newsletter to leavening agents (and I will do this later). I would say most chocolate chip cookie recipes combine baking powder and soda for the ultimate lift. The exception is Sarah Kieffer’s classic pan-banging chocolate chip cookies, which use only baking soda to provide a ‘poof and deflate’ effect. While I do love these cookies, I usually gravitate toward using both leaveners.
Flour: This is where things get really fun. I am a flour enthusiast. I appreciate all different grain varieties, and various whole grains can lend themselves exceptionally in cookie recipes. Some pastries require extra care when altering the type of flour used in the recipe, but cookies (not dependent on gluten formation) are very forgiving. For a great guide on flour replacement, look to Roxana Jullapat in her cookbook Mother Grains. As a rule of thumb, you can generally replace half of the flour with a whole grain substitute (whole wheat, rye, corn flour/fine cornmeal). The exception to this is buckwheat flour, which behaves differently because it is a pseudocereal. Try substituting 20% of the flour weight with buckwheat flour in your recipe, and build from there.
Chocolate: I am always changing my mind about chocolate, and I think you should decide your chocolate preferences - as long as the chocolate is good quality. Previously, I had a one-track mind focused on chopping Valhrona feves or chocolate discs from Chocolate San Jose (an excellent Twin Cities-based chocolate business). Lately, though, I’ve been tracking down different varieties of Callebaut chips because I love their mouthfeel in cookies.
OTHER FLAVORS: There are all sorts of other flavors that pair beautifully with chocolate. You could, of course, add another variety of chocolate. You could also add toasted nuts or dried fruit (cranberries are delicious). My other favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe has espresso powder, and I’ve also tried earl grey cc cookies or cookies with herbaceous rosemary. Typically, I keep the same amount of chocolate in the recipe, but add any extra ingredients according to the power of the flavor.
Now, while I’m so excited to share these black sesame chocolate chip cookies with you, I should also note that I do have another, more classic cc cookie recipe. This recipe includes chopped chocolate, flaky salt and just a touch of ground espresso. It is modified from this lovely recipe by Thalia Ho (also check out her cookbook, Wild Sweetness). While these black sesame chocolate cookies feel like a chocolate chip cookie, the recipe ratios are different due to the tahini and black sesame paste. One fun swap: replace half of the tahini with sweet white miso (or a deeper miso if you live for that umami flavor). This recipe is adapted from SUQAR by Lucy and Greg Malouf.
Black Sesame Chocolate (of any kind) Cookies:
115g (4oz) unsalted butter (room temperature)
60g black sesame paste, well stirred
**you can make your own black sesame paste or purchase it from a local Asian grocer.
60g tahini, well stirred
200g granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
250g chocolate chips
**In this photograph, I used bittersweet chocolate, but the chocolate is a little overpowering. I’m really excited to try the recipe with white chocolate and/or milk chocolate.
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. These cookies can be baked immediately or stored in the fridge/freezer for future baking. Note that the texture will change slightly as your cookies rest and chill for longer.
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until well incorporated and the mixture just slightly lightens in color. As of late, I haven’t taken this mixture to the pale/fluffy stage, and I’ve been quite satisfied with the result!
Add the black sesame paste, tahini and salt and mix until well incorporated.
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla one at a time. It’s good to scrape down the bowl here at some point to ensure everything gets evenly mixed.
Mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the cookie mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to get ride of any flour build-up.
Add in your chocolate and mix until combined (really, just until it’s combined). After this step, I like to take the mixture and use a bowl scraper to ‘turn it over’ a few times. This allows me to fold any sugar/egg blobs back into the rest of the dough.
Scoop your cookies! I am a huge fan of cookies scoops. I am also a big fan of big cookies. Most of my cookies use a very rounded #20 yellow (1.5 oz) scoop. If you don’t have a scoop you can weigh the cookies or measure them at about 1/4 cup.
Bake cookies for about 18 minutes. My oven tends to run cooler than average, so cut down on the time if your cookies turn out too crispy. I like to pull them out when they’re still a bit puffy in the center, which results in that nice chewy inside.
These cookies are really fun and delicious, but I understand that you don’t always have the time or the means to make your own cookies. For those living in the Twin Cities, I can make some recommendations:
I am a fan of the tahini chocolate chip cookies at Cafe Ceres. I believe this cookie uses chopped chocolate, so every bite has a combination of chocolatey and nutty flavor.
I also like the rosemary chocolate chip cookie from Groundswell - if you’re interested in trying a unique and herby take on a classic.
For flavorful flours, try the rye chocolate chip cookie from Laune Bread. They are truly talented and inspiring bakers that I hope to write about more in the future.
Sun Street Breads wins the mix-ins game for their cookie (yes, I am slightly biased because I did work there). However, their Crusher cookie contains chocolate chips, waffle cone pieces and pretzels. So can you really argue with me?
Lastly, for a truly traditional chocolate chip cookie my favorite cookie can be found at Kieran’s Kitchen from Bakers Field Flour & Bread.
Alright, I didn’t intend for this post to be so long. I only have one other tidbit for you today, and it is on a truly excellent cookie that you should consider trying. About a month ago I purchase a chocolate olive oil cookie from Marty's Deli, which is a pop-up sandwich shop making delicious and decadent sandwiches and sides in Minneapolis. Bonus: 5% of their profits go toward mutual aid efforts! This cookie was love at first bite! It falls somewhere between cookie and brownie. It is rich with chocolate that beautifully complements the fruity olive oil. It's also topped with a chocolate knob and flaky sea salt (yes, the extra salt is divine). I really want the whole world to know about this cookie, so I reached out to Marty's Deli and asked if I could share some words about this exquisite creation. This is what Martha ("Marty") had to say: "I wanted to add a dessert item to the Marty's menu but I don't have a huge sweet tooth myself. I developed the Marty's chocolate olive oil cookie to be a soft and not-too-sweet treat to finish off a sandwich lunch. The key is good quality chocolate and the flakiest crunchy salt to top it off." Well that's all I have for now! Please have fun with these black sesame chocolate cookies and try adapting your own chocolate chip cookie recipe. I'm busy thinking of my next item to share... In the meantime, eat and share baked goods with the ones you love!