Chinese Sesame Cookies

Nov 7, 2026 · By VanillaGoods

Baking Cookies bars Easy

These Chinese bakery cookies are crisp, sandy rounds rich with toasted sesame oil and rolled in white sesame seeds before baking. They crack slightly on top and shatter into fine crumbs like a Chinese almond cookie. Makes 30 cookies in about 1 hr 1 min.

Prep 20 min

Cook 36 min

Cooling 5 min

Total 1 hr 1 min

Yield 30 cookies

Ingredients

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1 ¾ cups (220 g)all-purpose flour
¾ cup (100 g)powdered sugar
½ tsp (2 g)baking powder, 1/2 tsp
¼ tsp (1 g)baking soda, 1/4 tsp
1 pinchfine salt
7 tbsp (100 ml)neutral vegetable oil
2 tsp (10 ml)toasted sesame oil
1 (50 g)egg, large, beaten
½ cup (70 g)white sesame seeds

Fresh ingredient guides

Sesame seedsHow to pick, season & nutrition · 172 kcal per 30 g

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Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
Sift the all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda and fine salt into a bowl.
Whisk the neutral vegetable oil, toasted sesame oil and beaten egg together. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula, then your hand, just until a soft, slightly crumbly dough forms; do not knead.
Roll the dough into 30 balls of about 15 g each. Roll each ball in the white sesame seeds, pressing so the seeds stick all over.
Set the balls 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on the baking sheets and flatten each slightly with your palm to about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) thick.
Bake one sheet at a time until the seeds are golden and the cookies are pale gold with fine cracks, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway.
Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then on a rack until crisp, about 20 minutes.

Tips

Many Chinese bakeries use lard instead of oil; swap in 100 g softened lard for a richer, flakier crumb (the cookies are then not vegetarian).
Work the dough as little as possible; overmixing makes the cookies hard instead of sandy.
Bake one sheet at a time so the seeds toast evenly.
Do not taste the raw dough; it contains raw egg and raw flour.

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Recipe FAQ

How long does it take to make chinese sesame cookies?

Plan on 20 minutes of prep and 36 minutes of cooking, plus 5 minutes to rest. The recipe makes 30 cookies.

How should I store chinese sesame cookies?

Store in an airtight tin at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Can I make chinese sesame cookies ahead?

It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.

Sesame seed cookies made with lard or oil, sugar, egg, flour and toasted sesame are a long-standing Chinese bakery and home cookie, often set out in tins for Chinese New Year visiting. Serve it with oolong tea.

Variations

Black sesame cookies: roll the balls in black sesame seeds, or use half black and half white (35 g each). Time unchanged.
Sesame almond cookies: replace 40 g (1/3 cup) of the flour with almond flour and press a blanched almond into each cookie before baking; bake 18 minutes.
Mini cookies: roll 60 balls of about 8 g each and bake 12 to 14 minutes.

Estimated · per serving

Nutrition

Per serving = 1 of 30 servings this recipe makes.

85 Calories / serving

4.8g Fat

9.5g Carbs

1.4g Protein

3.3g Sugar

Whole recipe (30 servings): ~2550 cal · 144g fat · 285g carbs · 42g protein · 99g sugar

Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.