Celebrate Chinese New Year with these toasty buttery cookies. The distinct flavor of roasted black sesame seeds and rich-buttery shortbread make these cookies absolutely sensational! #SweetLunarNewYear
In the Chinese culture, we believe that sweet treats symbolize a sweet life. Therefore, no New Year’s celebration would be complete without dessert. As a kid, I remember Chinese New Year as a time with family, lots of food, and red envelopes with lucky money. As an adult, Chinese New Year is another fresh start. It’s a time to reminisce and really think about my goals for health and happiness for my family.
I just adore the simplicity of this recipe. It’s just butter, sugar, salt, flour and sesame seeds. Mix it all together, roll it out, and bake. No fuss, no drama, kind of like the way a new year should start.
These cookies are thin, crispy and have a crumbly texture that melts in your mouth. The taste is buttery and perfectly sweet with a lovely nutty aroma.
Join me and 26 other amazing bloggers in bringing in the Lunar New Year with these fabulous sweet desserts. #SweetLunarNewYear Link Party:
Snow Fungus Soup by Vermilion Roots
Indonesian Honeycomb Cake (Bingka Ambon) by What To Cook Today
Chinese Peanut Cookies by Wok & Skillet
Vietnamese Steamed Rice Cakes by A Taste of Joy and Love
Gluten-Free Chinese Almond Cookies by Grits & Chopsticks
Ice Cream Mooncakes by Brunch-n-Bites
Coconut Red Bean Pudding by The Missing Lokness
Korean Caramelized Sweet Potatoes (Goguma Mattang) by What Great Grandma Ate
Cashew Nut Cookies by Anncoo Journal
One Bite Pine Nut Cookies by Yummy Workshop
Baked Coconut Walnut Sticky Rice Cake by Jeanette’s Healthy Living
Black Sesame Cream Puffs by Pink Wings
Cashew Nut Cookies by Roti n Rice
Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai) by Malaysian Chinese Kitchen
Thousand Layer Cake (Lapis Legit) by Daily Cooking Quest
Pineapple Cookies (Nastar) by V for Veggy
Almond Orange Spiral Cookies by Butter & Type
Three Color Dessert (Che Ba Mau) by The Viet Vegan
Year of the Rooster Mochi by Thirsty for Tea
Korean Tea Cookies (Dasik) by Kimchimari
Sweet Sticky Nian Gao (Kuih Bakul) by Lisa’s Lemony Kitchen
Sweet Rice Balls with Peanut Butter (Tang Yuan) by Omnivore’s Cookbook
Candied Ginger (Mut Gung) by Plant Crush
Chick Egg Tarts by Dessert Girl
Red Bean Soup with Black Glutinous Rice by Nut Free Wok
Orange Scented Sweet Red Bean by Lime and Cilantro
I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
PrintBlack Sesame Shortbread Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen
- Category: dessert, snack
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American, Chinese
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (60g) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (40g) roasted black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick baking mat.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and salt.
- Add in the flour and continue to mix until the dough just starts to form. Mix in the sesame seeds until combined.
- Dust your rolling pin and countertop with powdered sugar. Roll out the dough to about 1/2cm thick. Use a 3cm round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and place a dozen cookies on each baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
Keywords: black sesame shortbread cookie recipe, black sesame cookies, easy shortbread cookies
Recipe adapted from The Comfort of Cooking.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake
Turtles Cookies
Chocolate Cinnamon Cheesecake
Venisa says
this is really good thanks for the recipe
Lily Ernst says
Youβre welcome! Iβm glad you enjoyed it:)
Beth says
I baked these earlier and they go perfectly with tea! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Sharon Wong says
Happy new year! I love your recipe, it looks like it would be easy to make and delicious, so perfect!!
Eric says
They look delicious. I’m going to try to make it
Lily Ernst says
I hope you enjoy them and nice to meet you:)
Amy says
Happy New Year Lily! I love adding sesame topping to my dessert. These cookies are so simple to make, might have to give it a try since I have everything in my pantry π Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
Sarah says
These are beautiful and simple too! I see these in the Asian fusion bakery by the grocery store and they seem quite popular π Happy New Year!
Lily Ernst says
Happy Chinese New Year to you as well and nice to meet you!
Julie says
These are beautiful cookies just perfect for the Chinese New Year!
Lisa Ho says
Buttery and sesame seeds… beautiful combination.
Happy Chinese New Year.
Lokness @ The Missing Lokness says
I’m always a huge fan of nutty sesame desserts. These look so crispy and buttery. What a great snack to munch on during CNY! Happy New Year! π
[email protected] says
Lovely cookies and happy new year! I love the feeling a fresh start and these cookies look like a great way to celebrate the new year.
Ann says
These look so yummy! Happy new year!
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
I love black sesame seeds and this recipe is so easy! Happy New Year!
Anita says
Lily, gong xi fa cai! I love anything with sesame seeds, black or otherwise, so this is just right up my alley π
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
these sound delicious! i love shortbread, but it sounds even better with the addition of crunchy, toasty, nutty sesame seeds (:
Lily Ernst says
Thanks Heather and nice to meet you. Happy Chinese New Year!
Christine | Vermilion Roots says
So simple yet so good. What a great cookie recipe to add to the sweet collection. Happy year of the rooster!
Marvellina @ What To Cook Today says
Yummmm!! I can imagine that nuttiness from the black sesame and buttery taste. Perfect combination.