These Miso Butter Cookies (味噌バタークッキー) might not be your ordinary butter cookies, but I have to tell you they are dangerously addictive, especially if you enjoy a hint of salt in your sweets. They are light, crisp, and have the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness. Go on, bake a batch, and get ready to be smitten today!

These Miso Butter Cookies Are:

Made with 7 pantry ingredients!Just the right amount of sweetness.So buttery!Deliciously savory from misoNutty and crunchy from sesame seeds.Crisp on the edges, with the perfect crumb of the cookie!Fairly quick, with just 30 minutes of chill time.A perfect sweet for an Asian-themed meal or parties!

7 Pantry-Friendly Ingredients for the Cookies:

All-purpose (plain) flourBaking powderUnsalted butter*Granulated sugarEggMiso – See the post below.Sesame seeds

  • I only use unsalted butter because I can salt the recipe as I like, and not the other way around.

How to Make Miso Butter Cookies

These butter cookies are the simplest to make, even for a beginner! Or I should say especially, a beginner baker. You just need to follow these 3 easy steps:

Beat wet ingredients, and add dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.Roll the dough into logs* and chill for 30 minutes.Slice the dough into disks and bake!

  • You can also make the recipe for cut out cookies. Form the dough into a disk, wrap and chill then roll out to ¼-½ inch, cut and bake.

3 Tips to Make Delicious Butter Cookies

Other Delicious Cookies on Just One Cookbook

Cherry Blossom CookiesGreen Tea CookiesBlack Sesame CookiesMeyer Lemon Sable CookiesChinese Almond Cookie

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2. Use Room Temperature Eggs and Butter

Did you forget to take out the eggs and butter from the refrigerator? Here are the quick tricks my daughter (a home baker in my family) taught me:

Eggs: Soak the cold eggs in warm water for 10-15 minutes.Butter: Microwave 5 seconds for each long side of the stick and turn (total 20 seconds; our microwave is 1000W).

Chilling the dough intensifies the flavor of the dough and retains its shape in the oven. Hold tight for just 30 minutes. You can preheat the oven and clean up the kitchen during this time.

Use of Miso (Japanese Soybean Paste) in Sweets

Beyond miso soup and savory dishes, the Japanese fermented soybean paste has also been embraced by pastry chefs and home bakers alike as the secret ingredient. It adds an unexpected umami richness and balances the sugar in baked goods, in the best way possible. For these Miso Butter Cookies, I used Organic White Miso from Hikari Miso®. The mild and mellow miso amps up the delicious buttery flavor in these cookies…but you wouldn’t even notice it’s there. If you use a different type of miso, your cookies will have a slightly different taste and color. Reduce the amount if you’re using Dashi-Included Miso or Red Miso Where can I buy Hikari Miso® miso? 

Itadakimasu!

Enjoy the miso butter cookies with Hojija, Green Tea, or Buckwheat Tea (Sobacha)! They are the perfect afternoon treat.