I like to use Japanese cookbooks for baking as they tend to use ingredients that are not common in western recipes. The cookies in the photo above use kinako, or soy bean flour as the main ingredient and it gives a nutty flavour to the cookies. If you have not bake with kinako before, give the recipe a try!

Kinako Cookies Recipe
Recipe taken from いつでもクッキー、どこでもクッキー

Ingredients: 
70g unsalted butter, softened 
50g caster sugar 
1 egg yolk 
1 teaspoon milk 
120g cake flour 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
20g kinako 

Method: 
1) Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. 
2) Sift flour, baking powder and kinako into a bowl, set aside. 
3) Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add egg yolk and milk, and mix until well combined. 
4) Add the flour mixture and mix only until the dough begins to form a mass. 
5) Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead for 4-5 times, or until smooth. 
6) Roll the dough into a 12X15X1.5cm rectangle. 
7) Slice the dough into cookies with the size of 4X2.5cm. You should have about 18 cookies. Pierce 6 holes in the top of each cookie using a skewer. 
8) Place the cookies in the tray, bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. 
9) Remove from oven, and let the cookies cool on a rack.