This week I had a special savory cookie request. My friend (and Savor Tooth Snacks super-fan) Jesse recently moved into our building and was throwing a housewarming party – he asked if we could make a batch of savory cookies for the event. I happily agreed – as someone who now makes cookies on the regular, finding people to share them with is a must and a housewarming party is the perfect place to do so. Plus, nothing says “welcome home” more than a fresh batch of cookies. I gave him a few options for party-friendly cookies (nothing too experimental, these needed to cater to any palate). We eventually decided on a Mediterranean theme: hummus snack platters and Tahini Crisp cookies from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s latest cookbook, The Cookie Bible. 

These cookies appealed to me for a few reasons: 

1. They are super easy to make – the dough comes together in a food processor (although Rose also provides instructions for the cookies to be made in a stand mixer as an alternative), assembly is straightforward, and they bake in less than 15 minutes. 
2. They are simple – while some cookies choose to layer multiple flavors, increasing complexity, these cookies make their titular ingredient (tahini/sesame) the star of the show. 
3. They are very, very beautiful – the stark contrast of the white sesame seeds on blonde or black cookies is visually stunning. They remind me of one of my favorite dim sum treats: Jiandui or sesame balls, which are also completely coated in a layer of sesame seeds, giving it a seeded-mosaic effect. 

I was also excited because I love all things sesame. Sesame oil, sesame seeds, tahini, black sesame, white sesame, you name it. For me, sesame elevates a dish. Its toasty, nutty, slightly bitter flavor adds depth. It can read almost like a peanut, but brings a bit more sophistication to the table. And it plays so well with other flavors: salt, fat, acid, heat. My go-to lunch is a butter-fried egg over white rice, drizzled with rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili crisp, and toasted sesame oil. Sesame seeds are the perfect garnish to a bowl of pickled cucumbers. Whenever I make homemade mole, sesame seeds are there too – both inside the sauce and on top for crunch and visual interest. 

These days, I see sesame playing a bigger role in desserts. This month, NYT Cooking featured a recipe for Black Sesame Rice Krispies Treats by Eric Kim. One of my all-time favorite recipes is Genevieve Ko’s Black Sesame Shortbread. Natsha Pickowicz’s DIY wedding cake features Toasted Sesame Buttercream. Wen Wen, one of NYC’s top 100 restaurants is widely known for its sesame-forward dessert: Black Sesame Tangyuan with ice cream, cilantro, peanut butter, and condensed milk. 

Why is sesame getting so much attention in desserts? In my opinion, it’s because you need a savory flavor to cut the sweetness. It’s the same reason why everyone sprinkles Maldon on their chocolate chip cookies, and why browning butter is the latest must-do step to up your baking game. A one-note, sugar-forward dessert will leave you craving a glass of milk because you need the flavor pendulum to swing in the opposite direction. Savory is the yin to sweet’s yang – it brings balance to the force and results in an overall more harmonious result. Sesame is one of those yin flavors. 

Getting back to the Tahini Crisps – the savory ingredient is really in the name: tahini. But, while most folks are only familiar with the beige-variety made from roasted hulled white sesame seeds, Rose Levy Beranbaum also includes a variation on the recipe made with black tahini: Black Tuxedo Tahini Crisps. I immediately knew I had to make both recipes. While I had never heard of or seen black tahini in the grocery store, a cursory Google search pulled it right up: made from 100% unhulled roasted black sesame seeds, black tahini is traditional tahini’s charcoal-black counterpart. Levy Beranbaum recommends Kevala-brand black tahini, although I’m not sure many alternative brands exist. 

While I assumed black tahini was very much a specialty ingredient, I didn’t realize just how difficult it would be to find. I initially tried my next-door grocer, and while I was pleased to see that they had a few different tahini brands to choose from, I wasn’t surprised to find that none of them were black tahini (although several included chocolate? That was new to me…) 

Next, I tried the most gourmet grocery store I could think of: Greene Grape Provisions. Sadly, they too didn’t carry black tahini. At this point, I was a bit stumped. Who might have it? I called ahead to the other fancy grocery store in my neighborhood to ask. Once again, no black tahini. At this point, it was too late to buy it online – the party was the next day. I needed to procure black tahini. And fast. 

The next morning, I set out into a feels-like temperature of 4°F, in search of black tahini. My last hope was Whole Foods, which unfortunately was a bit of a trek. Along the way, though, another grocery store on the map caught my eye: Middle Eastern Groceries. I’d never been, but it seemed promising. 

Sure enough, Kevala-brand black tahini was perched on the shelf next to some of the biggest containers of tahini I’d ever seen – think gallon-size. I made it home earlier than anticipated, my key ingredient, procured. 

Because I had decided to make both black and white tahini crisps, I thought it might be fun to mix and match the sesame seed varieties as well: black sesame seeds on white tahini crisps, white sesame on black tahini. Mixed sesame seeds on black and white. The result was a diverse assortment of eye-catching seeded cookies.

To say the cookies were the star of the party would be an exaggeration – after, all, they were chosen because of their understated elegance. But, they were enjoyed by all and acted as a fun conversation starter: which did you prefer, black tahini or white? Can you taste the difference between a black or white sesame seed coating? Did you even know that black tahini was a thing? 

Overall, these just might be my favorite savory cookies yet. They taste like a fancy peanut-butter cookie. The name doesn’t lie, they are perfectly crisp and the added fat from the tahini gives the crumb a melt-in-your-mouth quality. The sesame-seeds on the outside get toasted nicely from the oven, and provide another level of crunch. Surprisingly, I didn’t find any sesame seeds stuck in my teeth.. But maybe I just didn’t eat enough (they did disappear quickly). 

And the look.. I can’t get over the beauty of the sesame-encrusted exterior, the rich black contrasting with pale blonde. For me, these cookies bring new meaning to the idea of a black-and-white cookie (NYC’s iconic cookie of choice), and may just be the modern alternative.

savory-ness (1-5)	3 – definitely not too sweet, the sesame and tahini are the star of the show
weird or works? (complimentary flavors or a little bit weird?)	Works! Sesame on sesame, what could be better.
savory ingredients highlights	Tahini (black and white), sesame seeds (black and white)
best served…	At a NYC housewarming
encore?	Are these my new go-to cookies?