Sesame Cookies

Perfect with home brewed coffee

1 1/4 cups sesame seeds

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp water

How to do it

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly toast the sesame seeds for 3-5 minutes in a large skillet over medium heat. Let cool. Save 1/2 cup of seeds, and coarsely grind the rest in a coffee grinder (best choice), small food processor (what we had), or just chop them up if all you have is a knife.

Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs (but not the extra egg yolk) and vanilla and mix. Gradually add in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground sesame seeds. Mix on low until combined.

Scrape the dough onto a clean surface and flour your hands to keep the dough from sticking. Knead the dough a couple times. To form cookies, shape about a tablespoon of dough into a flattened ball, and place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Combine egg yolk and water, and brush this mixture onto cookies. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of sesame seeds on top of the cookies, pressing gently into the dough. Freeze cookies for about 15 minutes.

Bake until lightly brown, 18-20 minutes. Enjoy with the iced coffee you made this morning, stuck in the freezer to chill, forgot about, turned into a glass-shaped ice cube of coffee, then thawed into your afternoon pick-me-up. Cookies last well in airtight container.