You take a bite. It takes you 5 seconds to understand what is even happening inside your mouth. Sweet, crispy, salty, and soft. The taste of umami, so intense and deep, fills every cell of your body with excitement.
Miso, white chocolate, and pistachio cookies. Sounds bizarre. Tastes bizarre. But it is the kind of good bizarreness. It is not the taste you expect. Miso is a great source of umami, the fifth taste, usually found in meat, broths, and all those very savory products. However, it can also be a key to the ultimate dessert.
A few years ago, out of boredom, I baked sesame cake with cherries, adding tahini and Japanese miso paste. It was one of those experiences you remember long after it finishes. While working on recipes for my book, or actually thinking about anything but them, an idea came to my mind – I want to move this flavor onto a different level, more intense, almost cookie-ish. I created a dream in which miso plays the leading role. At the very beginning, I didn’t even know what to think. The first bite was so bizarre that even delicious. I baked them over again, using yet different proportions. I reached for the opinion of testers. The judgment was passed – the cookies will rock the culinary world.
White Chocolate-Miso Cookies with Pistachios
9 large cookies
1 ¾ cup (230 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150 g butter, at room temperature
⅓ cup (80 g) white miso paste
½ cup (100 g) white sugar
½ cup (100 g ) cane sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
200 g white chocolate, chopped
½ cup (50 g) roasted pistachios, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F (top-bottom heating). Lay the baking tray with baking paper. Combine flour and baking powder.
2. Beat butter with miso paste using an electric mixer or food processor until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Add two kinds of sugar. Mix, until combined, about 2 minutes. Add an egg and vanilla, and mix again. Combine with flour, ¾ of the chocolate, and half of the pistachios.
3. Damp your hands (forming cookies will be easier then). Shape dough into 9 large balls. Put them on the tray, leaving a lot of space between them. Put the remaining chocolate on their tops and sprinkle them with pistachios. Bake until golden on the outside but still soft inside, about 16 minutes. Cool completely on the tray. Sprinkle with yet another portion of pistachios. PS Cookies taste most delightfully when completely cooled.
Advice/tips
Only white miso paste is suitable for this recipe. Those dark kinds have too aggressive and dominant flavor.
Cookies are very intense, full of the savory and salty flavor of umami. You can make their lighter, more balanced version by adding ¼ cup (60 g) of white miso paste.
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Yours,
Rozkoszny
