Yoku Moku – Famous Tokyo Cigare Butter Cookies, Made with Premium Hokkaido Butter

During our trip to Tokyo, we bought plenty of snacks, and one of them was the popular Yoku Moku cookies. This confectionery store is known for its signature “Cigare” butter cookies.

Yoku Moku

Yoku Moku is a famous Japanese confectionary shop that sells premium butter cookies. It was founded in 1969, and has since expanded overseas to many countries like USA, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and more.

Yoku Moku is best known for its iconic Cigare cookies, which has a delicious buttery taste. “Cigare” is French for cigar. Indeed, these cookies do have a unique roll shape like cigars.

Similar to New York Perfect Cheese, the Cigare cookie was inspired by the French cookie langues de chat.

Yoku Moku Menu

There are three types of Cigare cookies:

1. Cigare – this is the classic rolled butter cookie
2. Cigare au chocolat – this butter cookie is filled with milk chocolate
3. Cigare au thé – this has a unique blend of Darjeeling and Earl Grey tea flavours

There is also a variety of other less well-known cookies:

• Pomme de terre – French for “potato”, this interesting cookie is made with fruits soaked in sake (for several months), and wrapped in marzipan and milk chocolate
• Billet au chocolate au lait – this is a “folded” butter cookie wrapped in milk chocolate
• Billet aux amandes chocolat – this is a “folded” butter cookie with small sliced almonds and a milk chocolate base
• Pleine lune – French for “full moon”, this is a round butter cookie with a fragrant almond flavour and a milk chocolate base
• Bateau de macadamia – this butter cookie is wrapped in chocolate and covered with crunchy macadamia nuts

Where to Buy

We bought our Yoku Moku cookies from the basement food hall at Isetan Shinjuku. However, there are plenty of branches throughout Japan. Click here to see the entire list of Yoku Moku locations.

Yoku Moku Price

Depending on the quantity and assortment, the price of Yoku Moku cookies sold at Isetan Shinjuku ranged from JPY 1,620 to JPY 5,380.

Our box cost JPY 4,320, which is around SGD 53. It contains 12 Cigares and around 50 other Yoku Moku cookies.

Compared to the Yoku Moku cookies sold in Singapore, this is significantly cheaper.

All Natural Ingredients

Yoku Moku cookies are made purely from butter, sugar, eggs, flour, almond powder and vanilla essence. No artificial food additives are used at all.

According to Yoku Moku’s Product Development manager Atsuhiro Miida, their butter cookies taste so good because they use premium Hokkaido butter, “which has a more intense flavour”,

And because butter is a dairy product, its taste changes every season. Therefore, the mixing process has to be adjusted constantly.

As a result, only the most seasoned operators with years of training are allowed to prepare the batter.

After baking, every single Yoku Moku cookie is delicately packaged and placed in pretty metal tins.

Therefore, a lot of effort goes into preparing these cookies – another example of classic Japanese finesse.

Beautiful Packaging

Our Yoku Moku cookies were packed in a beautiful dark blue metal tin.

I opened the tin and was impressed to see all the cookies arranged neatly in their respective compartments.

Each cookie is stored neatly in an individual package. And I was impressed that the wrapping tore open easily in a very neat manner.

Cigare – Wonderful Light, Buttery and Crunchy Taste!

My favourite cookie was definitely the Cigare! It is the perfect combination of flavour, aroma, and texture in one nifty roll.

The butter cookie was really soft and crumbled nicely into a pleasant mush in my mouth.

The delicate sweetness of the cookie romanced my taste buds and left me wanting more.

And I simply loved its lingering buttery fragrance!

Other Yoku Moku Cookies To Add Variety

The box I bought contained a variety of other less famous Yoku Moku cookies. They are the Billet au chocolate au lait, Billet aux amandes chocolat, Pleine lune, and the Bateau de macadamia.

You can refer to the “Yoku Moku Menu” section above to check out their descriptions.

My favourite is the Bateau de macadamia, wrapped in delicious milk chocolate and with an alluring buttery flavour punctuated by the crunch of lightly musky macadamia.

The Pleine lune has the most unique taste. It has a distinct almond flavour which cuts through the usual buttery and chocolate flavours.

These other cookies are really delicious and I strongly recommend buying them with the Cigare. They also add variety and serve as great gifts together with the Cigare.

Conclusion

Suffice to say, I really enjoyed eating the Yoku Moku cookies. I must say the Japanese really have a knack for turning classic French confectioneries into delicious Japanese style cookies. Case in point: check out my reviews of the delicious Press Butter Sand cookies and New York Perfect Cheese snacks.

These cookies are wonderful gifts to bring back to friends and family from your holiday in Japan. The only minor downside is that they are rather expensive (but still a lot cheaper than in Singapore), so make sure whoever you are buying for really knows how to appreciate the cookies!

Yoku Moku (Isetan Shinjuku)
Address: 3-14-1, Shinjyuku, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan Chome−9−1 (Isetan Shinjuku Basement)
Opening Hours: Daily 10.30am to 8pm
Phone: +813 3352 1111
Other Branches: www.yokumoku.co.jp/en/store

This article is part of our super awesome Ultimate Tokyo Travel Guide For First Timers. Everything you need to know about Tokyo is just a click away!