Ingredients
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
1 ¼ cups/210 g all-purpose flour
¼ cup/35 g cornstarch
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground green cardamom
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground turmeric
8 oz/230 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
⅔ cup/80 g confectioner’s sugar
1 yolk from a large hardboiled egg
⅛ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the sesame and fennel seeds.
- In a medium bowl, dry whisk the flour, cornstarch, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and turmeric.
- Using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar over low speed until pale and fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl using a bowl scraper. Place the yolk in a fine-mesh strainer held over the bowl of the mixer and press the yolk with a spoon until it completely passes through and transforms into fine shavings. Add the salt and beat over medium speed until combined, 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl using a bowl scraper. Add the dry whisked flour mixture to the creamed ingredients in the bowl, and mix over medium-low speed until combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl using a bowl scraper. Add ½ of the seed mixture to the shortbread dough and mix over low speed for 1 minute, until evenly dispersed. Reserve the remaining seeds in the bowl for the shortbread topping.
- Transfer the shortbread dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Roll and shape into an 8 in by 12 in/20 cm by 30.5 cm rectangle. Transfer the rolled-out dough with the parchment paper onto a baking sheet, top with a second sheet of parchment paper or cling wrap, and freeze for 1 hour or up to 2 hours.
- Bring the baking sheet with the rolled-out dough and transfer the parchment paper with the cookie dough onto the kitchen counter. Unwrap and reserve one sheet of parchment paper. Using a sharp knife trim the edges (you can skip this and leave the edges untrimmed), score the rolled-out dough, and cut into 1 in/2.5 cm squares. Line the same baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the cut squares of dough to the parchment paper, spacing them out evenly using an offset spatula (I left a ⅜ in/1 cm space). If the dough warms up and softens and makes it tricky to transfer them to the baking sheet, stick them in the freezer uncovered for 15 minutes to firm up. Sprinkle the reserved sesame and fennel seeds on top of the cookies. Take one of the reserved sheets of parchment paper, place it over the cookies, and gently press the seeds down to stick to the cookie dough’s surface. Unwrap and return the sheet to the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C.
- Once the cookies firm up, bake them on the baking sheet in the preheated oven, rotating the pan halfway through during baking, until the edges just start to turn golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch are light, can blow with the wind and sudden movements, and make a mess. When weighing, adding, and mixing them, execute caution; combine them slowly, saving you from later cleaning a giant dust cloud.
- Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl as often as possible to ensure the ingredients mix evenly. Invest in a bowl scraper if you don’t own one. Because of their curved design, bowl scrapers do a much better job than silicone spatulas at reaching the deeper curved sides of the bowl.
- To grate a hardboiled egg yolk, sift it.
- Refrigerate the uncooked dough as often as possible to help create a crispier shortbread cookie.
- If you have a ravioli roller on hand, use that to get a fancier edge on the cookies, but a sharp knife and a cookie cutter also work. I prefer keeping it simple because cookie cutters come in odd shapes and tend to create extra work (you’ll have to collect the dough scraps and roll it out again, increasing the amount of gluten, and the second batch might not be as crispy).
- These cookies are sweet enough for most people, however, dust them lightly with confectioner’s sugar if you like them sweeter.
