Sesame and Pistachio Butter Cookies
Updated June 16, 2026
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Ready In
- 3 hrs 25 min
- (1 hr 25 min, plus 2 hr freezing)
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
For the cookies
10 tablespoons/141 grams salted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup/150 grams sugar
¾ cup/200 grams well-stirred tahini
4 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
2 ½ cups/320 grams all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
1 cup/125 grams roasted shelled pistachios, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
For dipping
1 cup/167 grams chopped semisweet chocolate (not chocolate chips), melted (see Tip)
½ cup/47 grams sesame seeds
Nutritional analysis per serving (42 servings)
14 grams carbs; 25 milligrams cholesterol; 145 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 9 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 70 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 6 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the cookies: In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar and tahini until combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low and beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Add the pistachios and sesame seeds and beat until evenly distributed. The dough should start to come together in small clumps.
- Step 2
Divide the dough in half. Tip each half out onto a sheet of plastic wrap—don’t worry, it will be crumbly. Knead and roll each portion of dough into a 2-inch-diameter cylinder, using wet hands and the plastic wrap to help shape the dough. Wrap cylinders in the plastic, roll to round off the edges and freeze until solid, 2 to 4 hours. (At this point you could wrap the dough well and freeze it for up to 3 months.)
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut ¼-inch slices from one frozen dough cylinder, rotating it between slices to keep the round shape. If the dough breaks apart simply press it back together. Place the slices 1-inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until set and light golden around the edges, about 18 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. The cookies will be fragile until they are cool. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Step 4
Dip the cookies: Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. For the easiest and most effective dipping, melt the chocolate in the microwave in a short glass or ramekin that is wide enough to dip the cookies into but narrow enough that you have at least 1½ inches of chocolate at the bottom. Microwave the chocolate in 20-second intervals, stirring in between each, until smooth.
- Step 5
Dip the cooled cookies halfway into the melted chocolate, then dip in sesame seeds and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Let set at room temperature or in the fridge. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make sure to use chopped chocolate here, not chocolate chips, which will coat the cookies too thickly.
Private Notes
Comments
Four egg yolks seems like they will impart too much density to me. Given the other two comments I'm going to add two whole eggs instead of four egg yolks and hope it lightens up the batter a bit. I'll report back.
I found this crumbly dough hard to work with, even with some kneading and using the plastic wrap to work it into logs. Once frozen, the logs are very hard, and need a 5-10 min thaw to soften up enough to cut. Because of the crumbliness, my slices were a bit thicker than 1/4 inch rounds. I thought the dough tasted like halvah, delicious--but when baked, the cookies tasted more like a peanut butter cookie, which was a bit disappointing for me. 4 ish stars.
This recipe feels irresponsible. It should tell you how to cut the dough without it dissolving into crumbs. I took my logs out of the freezer and no way could I cut 1/4" without the entire slice crumbling. Read comments that said helped to let the log defrost for 10 or 15 minutes that definitely helped. It should be in the instructions. Also - took all the crumbles and patted them into a dough and got my biscuit cutter - small one and viola - that worked beautifully. They taste good.
I followed this recipe closely, with no changes to the eggs nor additions of water, measuring volume with cups and spoons. (I did omit the sesame seeds from the dough.) As many others noted, the mixed dough was very crumbly and took careful manipulation with the plastic wrap to be squeezed into stable log forms. I encourage persistence at this stage! I divided the dough into 3 parts to make 3 dough logs and found that the one I had manipulated the most (the final one) was the most stable when sliced after freezing. I baked the cookies until the centers appeared dry but gained little to no color on the edges (taking slightly less time than recommended) and then let cool on the parchment lined baking sheets. The cooled cookies were stable and easy to dip into the melted chocolate and seeds, with attractive results even with a primary school helper. They had a shortbread-like texture and great flavor and were a hit with my crowd. If these don’t get gobbled up within a few hours, do wrap them well to help retain crispness.
I agree with the comment that this recipe is irresponsible. I am an experienced baker and found this recipe almost impossible to make as written. The dough is simply too crumbly to slice. I tried it gluten-free with one-to-one flour and with typical baking flour. It didn’t make a difference. This recipe has expensive ingredients so it should definitely be full proof.
This was the worst recipe I’ve ever followed in over 60 years of cookie baking. The ingredients appealed to me but I should have gleaned from the comments that it would not come together well. As written it was impossibly crumbly. Freezing it only multiplied the problem. The ingredients cost a fortune only to wind up as tasty unattractive blobs.