Black sesame dessert soup, a popular Chinese sweet, uses black sesame flour as the base of the thick soup. To echo the flavors, we grind toasted black sesame seeds with peanuts and sugar to form a fun sweet-savory candy straw that makes the average Pixy Stix flavors look just plain boring.

Special equipment: You will need a very clean coffee or spice grinder for this recipe.

You will also need about 20 (8-inch) paper straws.

To fill the paper straws, you will need a couple of pieces of paper, to cover your work surface and make a funnel with—any kind of paper will do. Alternatives to a paper funnel are a No. 16 Open Star or No. 5 Round piping tip. You will also need a toothpick.

This recipe was featured as part of our Make Your Own Trixy Stix project for Halloween.

  • Yield: About 20 Trixy Stix
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr

Ingredients (3)

  • 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon roasted salted peanuts (about 4 peanuts)
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small frying pan over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally until the seeds are fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the seeds cool to room temperature.
  2. Transfer the sesame seeds to a clean coffee or spice grinder, add the peanuts, and grind into a fine powder. Add the sugar and pulse until combined.
  3. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Pour the sugar mixture into the strainer and sift it into the bowl, pressing against the powder with the back of a spoon to force it through the mesh. Return any larger bits left in the strainer to the grinder and process into a fine powder. Sift again and repeat with the grinding and sifting as needed until all of the sugar mixture is processed (you may have a few solids left to be discarded).
  4. Place a sheet of paper on a work surface. Have about 20 (8-inch) paper straws and a toothpick ready. Make a small funnel out of another piece of paper. (Make sure the tip fits into the end of the straws.) Alternatively, use a No. 16 Open Star or No. 5 Round piping tip.
  5. Fold up one end of a straw 1/4 inch. Fit the point of the funnel or piping tip into the open end of the straw. Holding the funnel or piping tip in place and working over the sheet of paper, spoon in about 1 1/4 teaspoons of the sugar mixture. Use the pointed end of the toothpick to poke the sugar mixture into the straw. Remove the funnel or piping tip and fold the open end of the straw down 1/4 inch to close. Repeat with the remaining straws and sugar.