Give Cookies A Deep, Nuttier Flavor With One Unexpected Addition

Behold the classic chocolate chip cookie. A thing of beauty, with its buttery base and chunks of luscious semi-sweet chocolate, baked to yield a golden exterior crunch with a still slightly gooey center, and finished with just a hint of sea salt. Classics are classic for a reason, but sometimes you want a little variation on the tried and true. For toasted and nutty cookie top notes that take you on a different flavor journey without veering too far from the familiar, try adding a bit of sesame oil to your next batch. 

You can even up the sesame angle with some sesame seeds for a touch of extra texture and body, as well as a pleasing visual contrast. Experiment with black sesame seeds, which still have their outer hull, rendering them more toothsome and with a stronger flavor, or white ones, which are a bit softer and more creamy in texture and taste. Either way, sesame not only adds depth of flavor, but it also ups the healthy fats and antioxidants in your next bake.

The simplest way to add a sesame dimension to your cookies is to add a few tablespoons of toasted sesame oil to the batch before baking. Regular sesame oil has a more neutral flavor, so it will not necessarily lend a detectable flavor to your dough, whereas the toasted oil has a deeper, nuttier flavor that will shine through without overpowering the overall cookie.

Tossing in a few tablespoons of sesame seeds to your dough is another way to pump up the sesame, or you could go whole hog and add some tahini (ground sesame paste) for more pronounced sesame vibes. Chocolate chip cookies are a great target for the sesame treatment, but butter cookies will also shine with its addition. An interesting but subtle variation, this riff will give the vibes reminiscent of a lighter version of a peanut butter cookie. If you are feeling the sesame, but really want to take the flavors to an outrageous place, consider adding it along with other unexpected cookie ingredients, including pretzels, chips, or coffee grounds, for the ultimate sweet and salty kitchen sink cookie.