These Miso Shortbread Cookies are simple brown sugar shortbread cookies but with an umami twist from white miso paste. You don’t actually taste the miso in the way you might expect, but it adds a subtle savory depth to the buttery richness of classic shortbread, making each bite richer and more complex. They feel familiar yet just different enough to make you pause and wonder what’s giving them that extra something.
If you’re one of my readers who went out and bought miso paste after I introduced you to some of my miso desserts, I promise you, I won’t let it go to waste. There will be a lot more coming after these shortbread cookies. 😉
Trang’s Recipe Highlights
- FLAVOR: These miso butter cookies are buttery with a subtle hint of savoriness from the miso, but not so much that it is salty, as well as a slight nuttiness from the black sesame seeds on the outside.
- TEXTURE: Slightly crispy at the edges, with soft fine crumb in the center. These delicate cookies will melt on your tongue with a buttery richness.
- EASE: This recipe is super easy to make! I usually use my stand mixer but you can make it by hand if your butter is very soft, or you can use an electric hand mixer if you have one to speed things up.
Key ingredients
You’ll need just 8 ingredients to make this miso brown sugar shortbread recipe. As always, for the full list of ingredients with quantities and step-by-step instructions, you can skip right ahead to the recipe card.
Some quick notes:
- Either light or dark brown sugar will work. And if you have neither, granulated sugar will work too in a pinch, granulated sugar will result in crispier cookies, still buttery and delicious!
- Cornstarch gives shortbread cookies a melt-in-your-mouth texture but you can skip it if you don’t have any without needing to make adjustments to the other ingredients.
- Black sesame seeds add an extra layer of nuttiness. You can also use white sesame seeds.
About white miso paste
Just like in my miso banana bread, I used Marukome premium white miso in these miso shortbread cookies. It’s lower in sodium (290 mg per tablespoon), which is very important because a classic shortbread cookie recipe typically uses very little added salt. Here, three tablespoons of miso work out to about ½ teaspoon of kosher salt.
For comparison, my miso chocolate chip cookies also use three tablespoons of miso, but the saltier kind with higher sodium, so it is closer to a heaping teaspoon of kosher salt. Those cookies can handle the extra saltiness though, as it helps balance out the sweetness of the chocolate chips.
More Asian-inspired shortbread
- These “Narutomaki” Shortbread Cookies are classic shortbread decorated with white chocolate to look like the Japanese fish cake 🍥.
- Enjoy a hint of earthiness in these Matcha Shortbread Cookies with a beautiful green color.
- But if you want something a little bit different, these Pandan Cookies are made with a shortbread cookie base and filled with coconut pandan jam!
- And if you can’t get enough miso, these Caramelized Miso Toffee Shortbread Cookies are currently my favorite shortbread cookies!
Hungry for more?
Miso Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter, 227 g, room temperature
- 3 tablespoon white miso paste, 50 g, see note on sodium level
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, light or dark, 135 g
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 300 g
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch, 18 g
- 2 tablespoon black sesame seeds, for rolling the dough in
- Granulated sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Cream together wet ingredients – Add softened butter, miso paste, vanilla and brown sugar to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated and creamy.8 oz unsalted butter, 3 tablespoon white miso paste, ⅔ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add dry ingredients – Sift the flour and cornstarch directly into the stand mixer bowl, stir to combine. Increase the mixer speed and beat until no trace of flour remains and the dough is formed.2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- Form the logs – Place a long piece of plastic wrap flat on the countertop. Divide cookie dough into 2 equal portions. Roll each portion on top of the plastic wrap into a log about 6” in length. You don’t need additional flour for rolling but you can use some flour if necessary.
- Add sesame seeds to the outside – Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of black sesame seed along the length of the plastic wrap and roll the cookie dough log over it so the sesame seeds adhere all around the outside of the dough log. Wrap it up with the plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before baking. I usually refrigerate shortbread dough overnight to prep ahead.2 tablespoon black sesame seeds
- Slice the cookies – Use a sharp knife to slice each cookie dough log into 12 cookies about ½” thick. Rewrap in the plastic and place them into the freezer while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Bake – Place 12 cookies on a large lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top and bake 1 batch at a time for 20 minutes, until the outer edges of the cookies are golden.Granulated sugar
- Cool – Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 5-10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Choose low sodium miso paste: I used Marukome premium white miso paste which has 290 mg of sodium per tablespoon. Adjust the amount of miso as needed to keep the total sodium from miso paste to just under 1000 mg if you’re using a different miso paste.
- Storing baked cookies: store your miso shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week.
- Storing cookie dough: cookie dough can be kept refrigerated for 3-4 days, and frozen for 3-6 months. I recommend slicing before freezing to make it easier when it comes time to bake.
- Baking frozen dough: don’t thaw frozen cookie dough, bake directly from the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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