Michelle Darmody: How to bake miso-sesame cookies

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. 

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.