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Totoro Black Sesame Shortbread

October 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Totoro Black Sesame Shortbread by @cindyr

It’s #totoroweek! What does this even mean? It means that a few bloggers have casually banded together to bring you tasty things inspired by the very cute and beautifully animated film, My Neighbor Totoro. It’s whimsical, emotional, weird, and cute. There’s also a Catbus involved, which is exactly what it sounds like. I have to admit I haven’t watched it in a few years–though Casper and Sean just watched it without me (rude)–so I’m fuzzy on the details. We’re big Totoro fans in this family (Sean loves all things Studio Ghibli). Casper is even going as Totoro for Halloween this year! He has a few Totoro plushies that he snuggles with and one of his first words was “Toto.” Thank you Stephanie and Lyndsay for the inspiration and be sure to check out everyone’s contributions (Totoro cronuts! handpies! ice cream cone cookies!! cake! pancakes! onigiri!) with the hashtag #totoroweek on instagram and posted on I am a Food Blog later this week!

Totoro Black Sesame Shortbread by @cindyr

I jumped in before remembering that I am dismal at cookie decoration. Not that I can’t do it, I’m just not great at it, and most importantly it STRESSES ME OUT. Like, major. I don’t know how people do it! I actually used to be a baker at an Austrian bakery and I decorated, literally, hundreds upon hundreds of sugar cookies every week with royal icing. And, I liked it! The thing was, I didn’t have to make the icing. I also had a huge table to decorate on and didn’t have a tiny child trying to climb my legs. It’s a totally different story of being a stressball when I try to do this at home. I didn’t use royal icing for these black sesame shortbread, I did a simple confectioners and milk situation for the white icing and melted chocolate for the dark. I think they turned out all right in the cuteness department and they definitely turned out tasty. The black sesame is nutty and slightly bitter–it’s really hard to describe–but works so well with the buttery shortbread. I also added a little vanilla to bring some extra aromatic sweetness to the game. I used a method to cut the Totoro shaped cookies out that I saw Kaitlin do (tear drop cutter and a rectangular measuring spoon!) and it worked perfectly! I’m glad I made these because they brought me out of my comfort zone and because I now have photographic evidence to show Casper when he’s older (b/c let’s be real, I’m going to leave this sort of thing to the more talented–I’m looking at you Stephanie, Kaitlin, Lyndsay, Vickie, Alana)!

 

5.0 from 2 reviews

Totoro Black Sesame Shortbread
 
Prep time
10 mins

Cook time
20 mins

Total time
30 mins

 

Whimsical, buttery shortbreads with toasty black sesame!
Author: Cindy
Serves: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ⅓ cup black sesame seeds, coarsely ground
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
  1. Using a mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the confectioners sugar and salt and beat until smooth and combined. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed, mix in the black sesame seeds and flour until combined well. Place the dough into a gallon zip-top bag and roll it out to fill the bag–the dough should be about ¼ inch thick in an even layer (or pat the dough into a flat round and wrap well in plastic, roll out after chilled on a floured surface). Place the dough into the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 300°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. If you roll out the dough in the gallon bag, just cut the bag away from the dough. To make Totoro shaped cookies, use an oval (tear drop or egg shaped) cookie cutter to cut out cookies. Gather the scraps, roll out again, and repeat. Using something rectangular and smaller than the top end (the smaller end of the tear drop or egg shape) cut out a shallow indentation in the top of the cookie to make the ears of Totoro (refer to Kaitlin’s Totoro postfor a visual idea of the process). Place the cookies an inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, just until the cookies are firm to the touch but don’t take on any color. Remove from the oven and cool 5 minutes on the sheets before cooling on a rack.
  4. To ice, mix 1½ cups confectioners sugar with a few tablespoons of milk–the icing should flow enough to level out as you pipe it, but not so loose that it doesn’t hold it’s shape. Err on the side of more stiff and add tiny bits of milk until you get a consistency you like. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip with the icing and set aside. Melt ¼ cup chocolate and place in a piping bag fitted with a fine, round tip. Pipe white bellies on the Totoro cookies and two white eyes. Pipe pupils onto the eyes, an oval nose, and little peaks on the bellies. Chill to set.
Notes
You can totally make these black sesame shortbreads in any shape you like, with or without the decorations.

Adapted from these Smoked Salt and Almond Shortbread Stars.

3.4.3177

More from my site

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  • Hazelnut Jam Thumbprints and Tea CakesHazelnut Jam Thumbprints and Tea Cakes
  • Amaretti Brown Butter Pear CrispAmaretti Brown Butter Pear Crisp
  • Smoked Salt and Almond Shortbread StarsSmoked Salt and Almond Shortbread Stars

Filed Under: cookie Tagged With: black sesame, butter, cookie, My Neighbor Totoro, shortbread, Totoro

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy | Club Narwhal

    October 28, 2015 at 7:14 am

    Cindy, these are too cute! And I can’t wait to see the Tortoro Halloween costume. Royal icing scares me too! I love how you decorated these little guys.

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:55 pm

      Thanks, Amy!! xo

      Reply
  2. Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land

    October 28, 2015 at 7:52 am

    Cindy!! These little buddies turned out SO cute! I love how you made black sesame shortbread… and that you used to be a cookie decorator!? (everything is so much easier without that toddler crawling up your leg, right!?) The simple milk glaze looks so perfect – I never thought of piping it, duh. I like the “casually banded together” thing, so true and so effective! Casual Totoro Week! ^__^ So glad you joined in this year and can’t wait to see Casper in Totoro costume! ^__^

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:56 pm

      Did you see him on IG? It was so ridiculous! and thanks!

      Reply
  3. stephanie

    October 28, 2015 at 8:35 am

    these guys are absolutely too cute cindy! your decorating skills are bomb, and even more so if casper was all over your legs 🙂 i love love love black sesame and i can just imagine the nuttiness going so well with buttery shortbread.

    i’m still waiting for that pic of casper dressed up as totoro! xoxo

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:57 pm

      Thanks for organizing and inspiring, Stephanie!! I posted a pic of him on IG 🙂

      Reply
  4. Michelle @ Hummingbird High

    October 28, 2015 at 9:00 am

    CINDY THIS IS SO FREAKING CUTE IM ACTUALLY DYING OVER HERE

    also, black sesame SHORTBREAD?! omg you culinary genius you

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:57 pm

      Thanks, Michelle!! The black sesame was so good!! I’ve never baked with it before.

      Reply
  5. Alana

    October 28, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    OMG YAYYYY. This is a totoro + black sesame week! And your decorating skills are totally on point! LUV.

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:58 pm

      THANK YOU! Those cream puffs were amazing!

      Reply
  6. Mary Frances

    October 29, 2015 at 7:46 am

    I love this little character, these look like a truly amazing treat!

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:58 pm

      Thank you, Mary Frances!

      Reply
  7. Boni

    October 29, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    These sound amazing. Adding black sesame seeds to my grocery list now!

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:58 pm

      Do it!

      Reply
  8. June G.

    October 29, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    We love Totoro!! We made a Totoro snowman…it ended up looking like the creepy bunny from Donnie Darko:/

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:58 pm

      hahah! Oh, man! A for effort, right?!

      Reply
  9. Maryanne @ the little epicurean

    October 29, 2015 at 6:15 pm

    These are seriously TOO CUTE to eat. But since I love black sesame, maybe I’ll have a couple bites. 🙂 (P.S. In college I studied abroad in Tokyo for a semester. The school I attended was down the street from the Studio Ghibli headquarters!)

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:59 pm

      That’s amazing! My husband would be so jealous!

      Reply
  10. nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps

    October 30, 2015 at 7:41 am

    Those are some of the cutest Halloween cookies I’ve seen!!! My gosh – the creativity! I’d say you definitely knocked the cookie decorating out of the park.

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:59 pm

      Thanks, Nicole!

      Reply
  11. Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits

    October 31, 2015 at 8:00 am

    Cindy, this Totoro shortbread is SO FREAKIN CUTE. I want to see photos of Casper dressed up as Totoro!

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:53 pm

      Thank you! Did you see on IG?!

      Reply
  12. Carla

    November 1, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    THESE ARE THE MOST AMAZING COOKIES. I LOVE THEM. You know what’s even better than tasty cookies? Tasty cookies that LOOK THIS GOOD. <3

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:52 pm

      Thanks, Carla!!

      Reply
  13. Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog

    November 2, 2015 at 9:48 am

    These have got to be the cutest cookies ever! I saw them on Insta and have been dying to come take a look at the recipe, and it looks totally doable, I’m seeing this happening in my kitchen in the very near future, sounds delish!

    Reply
    • cindy

      November 2, 2015 at 10:51 pm

      Thank you! They are totally easy!

      Reply
  14. Mitch

    November 13, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    Looks really easy to make! I bet it must be really really tasty.

    Reply
  15. Scott Williams

    June 10, 2016 at 8:12 am

    I tried these with my child because she absolutely love this character. Unfortunately , we weren’t able to make it look like yours but we had a hell of a time trying :)! BTW, what kind of camera did you use for these awesome photos??

    Reply
    • Cindy

      June 13, 2016 at 8:54 am

      Hi Scott, I;m so glad you had a good time! I use a Canon 6d with a 50mm lens.

      Reply

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