In Asia, sesame is an ingredient that is often seen in dessert. For instance, the steamed bun, aka Baozi (包子) can have sesame and white sugar paste as filling. It has been one of my favorites. However, the sesame paste in Asia is often a little bit bitter due to the reason they are often unhulled, compared to the tahini paste, which is a hulled sesame paste from the Middle East. So when I want to use the paste to make dessert, I prefer the tahini instead.

I experimented a few times to get it right. The previous versions have been either too fluffy, or too sweet. This time I got it right, with the right amount of ingredients and the right technique. Although the process tended to be a bit messy, I am very satisfied with overall result.

Kitchen Gadgets: Oven

Ingredients

• 150g vegan butter
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black sesame seeds as decoration (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
2. In a big bowl, cut the vegan butter to cubes and let it soften under room temperature.
3. Add tahini, sugar and vanilla extract and use an electric beater to cream the fat and sugar until they're well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Mix really well.
5. Add the dry ingredients in step 4 into the cream mixture in step 3, mix really well. I found it easier to mix with hands at this step. If you're worried it gets too busy, you can wear a plastic gloves or bag to mix and knead the dough. It must be mixed evenly and it can take a bit time to do so.
6. Use one tablespoon as measurement, scoop 1 tbsp of batter per cookie. Squeeze to mix with your hands, and roll it into a round ball between your palms. Place it on a baking sheet, and space them around evenly. Lightly flatten the cookie by pressing your palm on it.
7. Place a pinch of black sesame (about 1/4 tsp) on the center of the cookie, lightly press them into the dough use the blade of knife. This step is optional.
8. Bake of 10 minutes. Let it cool on the baking sheets before transfering to cookie jar.