These incredibly easy flourless black sesame peanut butter cookies are so tasty, soft, and chewy. If you like the nutty black sesame seeds and peanut butter all in one, you have to give this cookie a try.
With Christmas around the corner, all I can think of is baking more and more cookies 🙂 I made quite a bit of black sesame paste a few days ago and also we have plenty of peanut butter in stock. I figure, combining these two to make cookies would be a great idea and it sure was. I love peanut butter with all my life (actually any nuts too!). I saw these flourless peanut butter chocolate cookies recipe and decided I need to make some myself with some modifications, by adding black sesame paste and by swapping chocolate chips with dried cranberries and they are just perfect! This is not a typical flourless cookie with weird texture. You have to try it to believe it 😉
The recipe rundown
Taste: I love the combination of black sesame paste and peanut butter. The cookies are not overly sweet (as I cut down on the sugar quite a bit) and I like biting into pieces of sweet dried cranberries
Texture: The cookies are soft and chewy, just the way I like it
Ease: Very easy. No hand mixer or special equipment needed
Substitute for black sesame paste
This recipe uses black sesame paste. You can easily make this at home by using this How To Make Black Sesame Paste recipe. You only need toasted black sesame seeds and honey.
You may wonder if you can use tahini as a substitute. It’s true that tahini is also made with sesame seeds, but usually, the seeds are raw or just lightly toasted and the taste profile is quite different. But, you can substitute with tahini if you must for this recipe
What kind of peanut butter to use
I use creamy peanut butter for this recipe. You can also use chunky peanut butter if you like to bite into some nuts. I don’t have chunky peanut butter on hand, otherwise, I would use chunky peanut butter. How about natural peanut butter? Natural peanut butter usually separates and you need to really stir them until they are combined if you want to use it in this recipe. If you don’t stir them well, it is going to make the cookies very crumbly and the texture will be off.
How to make soft and chewy flourless black sesame peanut butter cookies
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix black sesame paste and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir until they are well combined
2. Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt and stir until well combined
3. Add egg and vanilla extract and stir again until combined.
4. Fold in craisins and stir until combined. The cookie dough is extremely sticky, don’t panic
5. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough using a tablespoon or a cookie scoop onto a lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart as the cookie will spread. Sprinkle with some white sesame seeds for visual contrast
6. Bake on the middle rack for 8 minutes. Let the cookies cool down on the baking sheet
How to store unbaked cookie dough and bake them frozen
The great thing is you can make this ahead and get as many out as you need and bake. Here’s how:
1. Scoop the cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet, they can be closed together but don’t let them touch each other
2. Put the tray into the freezer for one hour and they will be partially frozen. Transfer to a freezer bag, push all the air out and seal. The cookie dough can be kept frozen for up to 3 months
3. When ready to be baked, you don’t need to thaw the dough. Simply arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 2 minutes longer or so
How to store baked cookies
1. Room temperature: Let the cookies cool down completely and then transfer to an air-tight container or cookie jar. You can stack them up in between sheets of parchment or wax paper. They can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days
2. Freezer: for longer storage, freezer is the best place. Simply transfer the already cooled-down cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, not touching each other and freeze for one hour, then transfer to a freezer bag, push all the air out and seal tightly. They can be kept for up to 3 months max. Remember to write the date on the bag as a reminder
Did you make this flourless black sesame peanut butter cookies recipe?
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Flourless Black Sesame Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
If using half black sesame paste, half peanut butter:
- 135 gr black sesame paste 1/2 cup
- 135 gr creamy or chunky peanut butter 1/2 cup, see notes 1
If using all black sesame paste:
- 270 gr black sesame paste
Other ingredients:
- 80 gr brown sugar packed, see notes 2
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg about 50 grams without the shell
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 85 gr chocolate chips semi-sweet, dark, or mixture of white chocolates, see notes 3
Optional:
- white sesame seeds toasted, for sprinkling
Instructions
Prepare the cookie dough:
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix black sesame paste and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt and stir again until well combined
- Add egg and vanilla extract and stir again until combined. Fold in chocolate chips and stir until combined. The cookie dough is extremely sticky, don't panic
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the cookie dough using a tablespoon or a cookie scoop onto a lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart as the cookie will spread. Sprinkle with some white sesame seeds for visual contrast if you choose to
Baking:
- Bake on the middle rack for 8 minutes. They will be very soft and looks a bit undone, it's normal. Let the cookies cool down on the baking sheet completely. When they cool down completely, transfer to an air-tight container or cookie jar. You can stack them in between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper. They can be kept for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze them for up to 3 months
Notes
- I don't recommend using natural peanut butter (oil usually separates). I used store-bought creamy peanut butter. Chunky peanut butter would work too
- The original recipe calls for 3/4 cup (161 gr) brown sugar, packed. I cut the amount by half because the black sesame paste has been sweetened. Please feel free to adjust the amount to your preference.
- I used craisins in the photos, but my kids like it better with chocolate chips
6 comments
I would love to make these for my friend but she is vegan. Any idea of what i can use instead of egg?
Thanks so much! They look utterly delicious!
Hi Barbara, I haven’t tried it myself, but you can try replacing with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds with 3 Tbsp of water and let it sit for 15 minutes until gel-like thickened. The texture of the cookies may be denser.
Thank you for the recipe: these cookies look amazing! Do you think swapping out all of the peanut butter for black sesame paste would work? (I have a friend with nut allergies.)
Hi L, That would work with all just black sesame paste too!
Wow! What a great combo..I love both the main ingredients. How did the cranberries balance out with the PB? Could we add chocolate chip instead of the cranberries? Just curious.
Hi Pey-Lih, I like dried cranberries with PB, but not everyone may like the combo that way. yes you can definitely add chocolate chip, I was out of chocolate chips and only had cranberries. Chocolate chip version is really good too. Chocolate, peanut butter, black sesame…. 😉 into my mouth!