Miso Cookies

My friend Joan Ross loves to make Miso cookies and often shares them with her friends.  She also made these for our recent kaiseki dinner.  They were such a success that I begged her for the recipe to include here.  I made some slight changes by adding walnuts in addition to the black and white sesame seeds used for decorating the exterior of the cookies. While nuts are not often used in Japanese cooking, you can find walnuts and chestnuts used seasonally in certain dishes.

What makes this recipe unusual is the miso paste. Miso paste is a fermented soybean paste that's used a lot in Japanese cooking.  There are several types of miso paste from white, the mildest, to red and brown, progressively more flavorful versions.  For this recipe, I used organic white miso.  When added to pastries and baked goods, miso paste gives a lovely, earthly note of salty savoriness.

What fascinated me when making these cookies is how the dough’s taste transformed during the baking process. (I always taste my dough).  What started out tasting odd and overly salty—because of the miso paste—mellowed out after 20 minutes in the oven. 

A small observation: Japanese desserts and sweets are not as sugar forward as ours.  Afterall, Japan is about subtlety. In just about everything.

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons white miso paste, preferably organic

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds

3 Tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds

3 Tablespoons walnuts, finely chopped 

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 ° F

1.      First toast the sesame seeds for 5-7 minutes in a 350° F oven.  Make two aluminum foil trays for each color of sesame seeds so that they could be roasted at the same time. Halfway through the process, stir with a fork so that seeds can brown evenly. Cool and set aside.

2.      Using a standing mixer with a paddle attachment (or handheld mixer), beat butter at a high speed about one minute until creamy.  Add sugar and miso paste and process at a medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

3.      Whisk the egg in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture. Beat at a high speed for another minute.  Stop the machine and scrape down the sides to make sure all the ingredients are fully integrated.

4.      Before measuring the flour, be sure to aerate it first with a fork. Then sieve the measured flour into a medium size bowl.  Next add the baking powder and mix together.  Stop the mixer to add all the dried ingredients. When you turn the mixer back on, do so at a low speed initially or else you’ll have flour flying everywhere.  Turn up to a high speed and beat until all ingredients are fully combined.

5.      Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then form the dough into a large ball and place on a surface sprinkled with a little flour. Cut into four even pieces and form into smaller balls.  Using the palms your hands, roll out each ball into a log approximately 5 inches long with a 1-inch diameter. Put into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

6.       Spread out the white sesame seeds on a baking sheet. Remove one log from the refrigerator. Moisen a paper towel with water and wrap around the log so its exterior is slightly wet. Then, roll through the sesame seeds until all sides are covered.  Wrap with plastic wrap or parchment paper and placeback in the refrigerator.  Do the same thing with the black sesame seeds, this time using two logs. Finish with the walnuts for the fourth log.  Keep the logs in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them.  Cold dough helps the cookies to keep their shape.  (These can be made in advance and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 3 months.)

7.      When you are ready to bake them, prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.  Cut rolls one at a time, keeping the others in the refrigerator.  Use a sharp serrated knife to cut into even pieces, approximately ½ inch thick each. Once all four roll are cut and placed on the baking sheet, put it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to rechill.

8.      Bake chilled cookies for 20-22 minutes until they are golden brown on the top, making sure you turn the baking sheet halfway through the cooking process.

9.      Remove baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool on th baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes: 40-42 cookies