I recently went on a 2-day bender with a bag of Trader Joe’s honey-roasted sesame almonds. I had never tried them and I naïvely picked them up at the store. I couldn’t stop eating them. I even had them for dinner one night. These sesame honey cookies are inspired by the grip this sweet and savory snack has on me.
I love how the honey makes the cookies so chewy and keeps them soft for days. The sesame seeds lend a great nutty flavor to balance out the extra sweetness, plus a nice additional texture. For these, I use the pan-banging method from Sarah Kieffer, which gives them ripples and crinkles, and also helps to keep the inside chewy and the edges crisp.
Did you make these sesame honey cookies? I want to see! Tag me @easygayoven on Instagram and TikTok!
Sesame Honey Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (113 grams)
- 1/3 cup honey (113.3 grams)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (95 grams)
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 110 grams
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour measured using the scoop-and-sweep method (195 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (52 grams) (around 2 ounces)
Instructions
- If your sesame seeds aren’t toasted already, add them to a skillet and cook on medium low heat, just until most of the seeds develop a golden brown color. Transfer to a plate or other flat surface to cool, then cover and set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Gently melt butter in a small saucepan on low heat. Add the honey and mix until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars with the honey and butter until homogenous.
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients just until the last streaks of flour disappear. Cover and chill in the fridge until firm, about 3-4 hours or overnight.
- Dole out around 12 balls of dough, about 2 tablespoons each. I like to use a cookie scoop for this.
- Add the sesame seeds to a small bowl. Roll each dough ball in the seeds making sure to cover the bottoms, too.
- Chill the dough balls in the freezer while you preheat the oven to 350°F. This will help them keep their shape and not spread too much.
- Line 2 half-sheet trays with parchment paper and place 6 dough balls on each, leaving about 2 inches between each.
- Bake the cookies for 7 minutes, then rotate the trays and swap their rack placements to promote even baking. Giving them a firm *thwap* against the counter at this stage deflates them and gives them a crisp outside and chewy middle.
- Bake for 6-7 more minutes, or until the edges are deep golden brown and the centers are still slightly pale.
- Remove the trays from the oven and bang them on the counter again to deflate them one last time. Let the cookies set up for about 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
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The first recipe I saw that made me stop and peruse your website. Everyone in my family loves the ginger molasses cookies, but THESE are my favorites. The quality is probably changed by the honey, I use our favorite from a local beekeeper so if you’re reading comments dear reader, try to get a good honey. But I can’t keep these in my house. The smell is so toasty and comforting. Again, I’m a bad baker – but you make it simple to create these really lovely flavor profiles and then people think I’m cool.
It sounds like you’re an amazing baker! Thank you for trying them.
When I say that these are some of the best cookies that I have ever had, I am not joking. They’re chewy and addictive and so so pretty. Flawless.
In the words of a modern day prophet, Lady Gaga, “Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.
Wow you certainly have a way with words. Thank you!
So chewy and delicious! Love the balance of nutty sesame and honey!
Thank you for trying them, Scott!
—Eric
Sooo good and easy to make. Total pantry recipe and no special equipment needed!! Run don’t walk to your kitchen to make these.
Thank you for this great review Elizabeth! I’m so glad you loved them.
—Eric
Would almond extract give the almond element of the honey sesame almonds your replicating or would that overpower the cookie? Maybe 1/8-1/4tsp? Or add in chopped almonds? Roll in slivered almonds?
So excited to try these for my family! They will probably be wary because they aren’t adventurous/will question the sesame seeds but I can see them becoming TOTALLY addicted once I force these on them. Ha!
Hi! I never thought about adding almond extract but I think it would be interesting! Always starting with less than you thinnk you need is a good idea since it’s so strong. As far as rolling the cookies in almonds, or mixing almonds in, I’m not sure because it could affect their spread which is really important for this particular recipe. I’m all for experimenting though! Happy baking.
—Eric
These were so tasty and easy to make! I love how unique this cookie is and the texture is perfect!
I’m so glad you loved them — thanks for leaving such a nice review. —Eric
I love these!! I made these today after recently finding a recipe. I needed something to bake as a thank you gift, and these fit the bill perfectly. Chewy, nutty from the toasted sesame seeds, and contain the perfect amount of sweetness. I’m posted out here in Nigeria for work and wanted to bake a thank you, but maybe cultures out here don’t enjoy overly sweet desserts. These were a hit. I’ll be making them for the office tomorrow!!
Thank you for trying these and for your thoughtful review! I’m so glad you loved them.
—Eric
Delicious cookies. I was expecting powerful sesame flavor, so on my second batch I swapped out two tablespoons of butter for two tablespoons of sesame oil. I think that ratio is gorgeous.
I was wondering about two things: when I bake them, the little ringlet ripples on the top on this website’s photos don’t happen on mine. It’s just a flat circle. Maybe I banged them too hard/too much??? My oven is also very iffy.
The sesame seeds roll outward as they bake it seems the middle of the doughball ends up on top, a few seeds end up around the edges on the top of the cookie, and the rest of the sesame seeds are in the bottom. I wonder if that’s happening for anyone else?
These are minor things though. The point overall is that the cookies are delicious, and they’re an amazing mix of crunchy/crispy, chewy, and soft. Texture mix from heaven.
perfectly chewy
so glad you liked them!
—Eric
I’m curious how you roll these? The dough is so runny and sticky that it doesn’t hold a shape. I double-checked my measurements and even tried adding a couple more tablespoons of flour.
Oops. Never mind. I haven’t chilled the dough yet!
I’m glad you figured it out! Thanks for trying the recipe. Happy baking! —Eric
Hey there. Could use some guidance, I have tried making these twice. Doubling checking everything, measurements, temperature, chill time, and I cannot get them to not completely melt together in the oven.
Hmm I wish I could tell you what’s going on! I would check your oven temp with an oven thermometer, if you haven’t.
Jaw-droppingly good. I didn’t alter these at all and used regular old butter (vs premium which has more milkfat) as I had read that this will let them puff up nicely before the thwacking. As I rolled them, the butter started to warm up so I re-refrigerated the rest while I rinsed and dried my hands and continued. Not a sesame seed left behind, either. Perfect measurements and they last nicely for a few days — heated them up in a hot oven for a few minutes last night to recharge the crisp. Honestly in my top 3 favorite cookie recipes!
Thank you for this note! Love the detail about the butter, I will have to put that in the notes.
I thought I already posted once but can’t recall! Hopefully it isn’t a duplicate.
I saw these cookies and instantly wanted to bake them. The recipe is so easy in a sense that it doesn’t take a ton of active time and it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients! What a relaxing bake. I did make a modification on my second batch: I wanted even more delicious sesame flavor so I swapped out two of the tablespoons of butter with sesame oil. It really revved it up!
I also have a couple of questions and wonder if I’m doing something wrong.
Firstly, the cookies have been baking without the little ringlet ripples you can see on top. They bake into a super flat circle. My oven is iffy and I’m thinking maybe the head isn’t consistent enough to cause that effect?
Secondly, the cookies seem to bake in a way that the seeds coating the dough ball roll and shift so that the vast majority of seeds end up on a layer at the bottom of the cookie. There’s a good chunk of visible seeds around the edges on top, but once you flip the cookie over there’s the bulk of the hundreds of seeds lol. Am I doing something wrong?
Either way! They’re delicious and one of the best features is the texture. They’re crunchy, crispy, and chewy all at once. Amazing.
Thank you for your review! I’m glad you love them. The rippling issue could be caused by an oven that’s not hot enough or dough that hasn’t been chilled enough. It’s possible replacing some of the butter with oil would also cause that to change. I would also check that your baking powder is fresh. I can’t account for the all the seeds drooping to the bottom, but many will since that’s just how these cookies bake. —Eric
Fair enough! I just finished eating my last batch so I’ll be baking some more sooner or later. My first batch was all butter–no sesame oil, so I don’t believe that was the issue that removed the beautiful ripples. I think I’ll turn my oven up a bit higher and chill even longer next time to see if that changes things! I’m forever curious. Even if the ripples never come, I’ll be making these forever. (I also might be getting a serious digital temp-controlled convection oven for christmas so I’ll probably try them in there too!)
The sesame cookies my mom made were rolled in sesame seeds. I like your recipe better being the seeds are in the cookie. These cookies are fabulous. I took them over to my brother who loves to cook and he said these were the best he has ever eaten. Crisp on outside and chewy in middle. Thank you for the fantastic recipe.
Thank you for your review! —Eric
FML these are delicious! I even gave some to my famous food blogger neighbor, and she was impressed!
high praise! glad to hear it. thanks for your review —Eric
A hit and favorite among everyone — I’ve made these 5 times in a month and a half per request of family members. I portion with a leveled 2 tbsp scoop and get 18 four-inch cookies. With leveled portions, I need more sesame seeds (65g).
For times when I want an easier process (though less pretty cookie), I mix the sesame seeds into the dough with the other dry ingredients. The cookie will bake up slightly thicker and smaller. In this case I get about 20 cookies. I also never bother with the ripple effect.
It’s also a little less messy to keep the sesame seeds in the pan they’re toasted in and portion a few scoops of dough at a time directly onto the seeds.
Thank you for the recipe!