Michelle Darmody: How to bake miso-sesame cookies

In Japan there are many different varieties of miso, with regions having their own specialities. Here in Ireland, we generally find white or red paste, or a combination of the two which is called awase miso. White miso paste, which is called shiro, tends to work best in sweet bakes. 

I am a huge fan of the sweet and savory combination. Savoury, salty additions to baking not only enhance the other flavours they also help to balance the overall effect. Miso, which is a fermented soya bean paste, is a great savoury ingredient to add to baking. 

It is bursting with satisfying umami notes. One of my first forays into using miso with sweet flavours was creating a miso caramel popcorn with a combination of maple syrup, melted butter and miso paste. It is delicious.

Miso is usually used to make Japanese broth like soups, or as a glaze for baked fish, or a marinade for different meats, but here it works well with the sweet biscuit ingredients and the combination of sesame seeds. 

In Japan there are many different varieties of miso, with regions having their own specialities. Here in Ireland, we generally find white or red paste, or a combination of the two which is called awase miso. White miso paste, which is called shiro, tends to work best in sweet bakes. 

It is fermented for a shorter time than the red paste so it is not as salty or as strongly flavoured, because of its subtlety it will not overpower the cake or cookies it is being added to.

All sesame seeds have a unique earthy and nutty flavour and are a rich source of protein, calcium and other minerals. Black sesame seeds tend to have a slightly stronger flavour. 

The outer skin, which is called a hull, is generally left on black sesame seeds which gives them a bitter edge over their white counterparts. You can eat them raw but baking with the seeds or toasting them enhances the sweet, nutty flavour.

Miso-sesame cookies

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

In Japan there are many different varieties of miso, with regions having their own specialities. Here in Ireland, we generally find white or red paste, or a combination of the two which is called awase miso. White miso paste, which is called shiro, tends

Servings

16

Preparation Time

 25 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 90g plain flour

• ¼ tsp baking powder

• ¼ tsp bread soda

• 85g soft butter

• 70g miso paste (white paste is recommended)

• 100g light muscovado sugar

• 40g caster sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 110g porridge oats

• 50g black sesame seeds

• 50g white sesame seeds

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

2. 2. Line two large flat baking sheets with parchment.

3. 3. Sieve the flour, baking powder and bread soda and set them aside.

4. 4. Beat the butter, miso and sugars together until soft and fluffy.

5. 5. Lightly beat the vanilla and egg together.

6. 6. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and combine.

7. 7. Add in the flour, oats and two-thirds of the sesame seeds and combine.

8. 8. Spoon the dough into balls and press the top of each ball in the remainder of the sesame seeds before placing onto each of the baking trays.

9. 9. You can place eight balls on each tray and flatten them slightly.

10. 10. Place the trays into the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

11. 11. Once the cookies are cool enough to handle, transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Baker's tips

Miso is quite a thick paste. It is important to combine it well with the other ingredients, so there is not an uneven balance of salty, savoury paste throughout the bake. I find combining it with the soft ingredients like butter works best and it is good to ensure they are well whipped.

When coating the top of the balls of dough with sesame seeds, place the mixture of black and white seeds into a wide shallow dish so it is easy to roll the ball of cookie dough back and forth. If the dough is too soft, sticky and messy you can place the balls into the fridge for about fifteen minutes and try again.

You can also place the coated balls of dough into the fridge so the dough firms up around the seeds and stops them falling off as the cookies bake.

It is advisable to allow the cookies to rest on the baking trays for a few minutes before transferring them onto the wire rack to cool completely. It not only allows them time to firm-up, they are also still baking on the underside for the first minute or two and moving them too quickly might result in cookies that are too soft.

You can store these cookies in an airtight container for about five days. You always need to ensure cookies have completely cooled before placing them into a container. They will emit steam if not allowed to cool and you will end up with very soggy bottoms.

You can store the dough in the fridge overnight or longer and then break it into balls before you need to bake the cookies.

If you really love the mixture of savoury, salty and sweet you can sprinkle the top of each cookie with some flaky sea salt when just out of the oven.

Three delicious variations

Cinnamon raisin cookies

You can leave out the sesame seeds and add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the flour mixture. When you are adding the oats and other dry ingredients add 75g of golden raisins in place of the sesame seeds.

Miso chocolate chip cookies

I love miso and dark chocolate; they are a perfect combination of bitter and savoury. For this recipe, I replace the sesame with 100g of dark chocolate chips and add the chips when the oats are being added to the dough. A sprinkling of sea salt on top of the cookie works very nicely with this combination of ingredients.

Miso and sour cherry cookies

Miso enhances the tanginess of the dried sour cherries. I tend to roughly chop 100g of dried sour cherries so they are similar in size to a raisin and combine these in place of the sesame seeds.