Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies

I had been wondering for some time what to do with some black sesame I still had leftover from making black sesame soup. I had already made black sesame soup twice and still had about 2-3 cups' worth of black sesame seeds. Some time ago, I read a blog where the author made black sesame cookies, so that gave me the idea of adding black sesame to a good but plain cookie recipe.. and well, since I like good shortbread..

Crisp but flaky, this rich, buttery shortbread cookie melts in your mouth, and the black sesame adds a little crunch to your bite! Very, very delicious and quite easy to make! I will definitely make this again. The butter is the star of the show, so make sure to use real butter. Here I use Lurpak unsalted butter. Recipe is adapted from the Scottish shortbread recipe from 'Joy of Cooking' by Irma S. Rombauer, et al. I really love these cookies. I have to stop myself from getting another cookie after the first one.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds (no need to pre-toast)

some cake flour for kneading

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 F.

1. Beat butter, powdered sugar, sugar and salt on medium speed until very fluffy and well blended.
2. Add 1 cup of all purpose flour, carefully stir the flour in the batter by hand, taking care not to stir too much. It doesn't matter if it's not all incorporated.
3. Add the cake flour and black sesame and stir again until blended.
4. Lightly dust kneading surface with a little cake flour, just enough to keep the dough from sticking. Turn the dough out onto kneading surface. Knead gently, as little as possible, just until it's possible to roll the dough.
5. With a rolling pin, roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick.
6. With a cookie cutter, cut the dough into desired shapes.
7. Place cookies in cookie sheet, preferably lined with aluminum foil to prevent sticking & easier cleanup.
8. Bake cookies for 45-50 minutes.
9. Let cool and enjoy!