Mokonuts Cookies
Not one but two!
Who needs a cookie right now? I know I do, and I ate several this morning when these came out of the oven. Who could resist? Not me. I’ve been meaning to share some cookie recipes from the Mokonuts cookbook with you, and today’s the day!
We have lunch (they only serve lunch) at Mokonuts every time we visit Paris, which has become a nearly annual event. As I have written about before, Mokonuts is, as it is described in the book description, an “eatery,” which is an apt assessment. It also feels like a dinner, er, lunch party, because Omar (Koreitem), the chef, is always in the kitchen, and Moko (Hirayama) always handles the floor mostly by herself. She also makes all of the desserts, including COOKIES. The rotating cast of cookies, which come three to a plate for dessert, are somewhat American in style, but with a delicious mish mash of influences.
I wasn’t the only one to immediately get to work on baking the cookies from their beautiful new cookbook. David Lebovitz shared the Multigrain Chocolate Chip Cookies back in December when the book came out, if you want a third option to round out your cookie plate! I decided to make the Rye, Cranberry, and Dark Chocolate Cookies, because it seems like they are a Mokonuts classic, and I’ve had them several times. They are absolutely packed with poppy seeds, and the cranberries add a bit of tartness. I quickly realized I wanted to make a second recipe to complement the chocolate cookies, and I settled on the Miso and Sesame Cookies, mostly because I had all the ingredients handy.
I was a little nervous at first when I saw that the recipes called for baking the cookies at 400°F, but of course I believe one should trust in the recipe, so I baked just six of the Rye Cranberry cookies in the first batch. Moko explains that in her journey to control the spread of her cookies, she experimented with different techniques, before settling on cold baking sheets and a hot oven. The cold baking sheet helps prevent the bottoms from burning, and they got nice and golden on top. I decided to try a batch at 375°F because I thought maybe I wanted a little more spread. They did spread more, and took two minutes longer to bake. Moko also recommends tapping on the cookies with a spatula when they come out to flatten them slightly. You really can’t go wrong. If you don’t have room to freeze the baking sheets, just keep your eye on the cookies and bake them at 375°F until the edges look golden, and the middle looks dry.
The Miso Sesame cookies baked better at 400°F. They need the extra heat, and maybe an extra minute or two to bake, or they are a bit raw in the middle. This is the rare cookie that is better cool than warm! They need a little time to set up. At this high temperature they can overbake easily, so keep a close eye on them!
One more recipe note: Moko says to divide the dough into 15 pieces; for the Rye cookies, that’s 55 g each, and for the Miso Sesame, they are 48 g each.
This book is a coffee-table book as much as it is a cookbook, but the baking section has plenty to keep a home cook busy—and if you’ve ever visited the restaurant, it’s a lovely souvenir!
Rye, Cranberry, and Dark Chocolate Cookies
Excerpted from Mokonuts: The Cookbook © 2025 by Moko Hirayama and Omar Koreitem. Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.