Toasted Sesame Cookies

I got this recipe from Laura in her quest for cookie recipes containing one or fewer eggs. She uses egg replacer, but I used a genuine egg in my batch. The great thing about these cookies is they're not super sweet (and the sesame is a nice change from icing or chocolate chips). 2 2 1/8-ounce jars sesame seeds (1 cup) 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened 2 tablespoons of water (you'll probably use more like 4 or 6) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

If your seeds are not already roasted, heat them in a skillet until golden brown. Set aside.

Combine all ingredients but the sesame seeds. I mix everything but the flour together and then gradually add the flour to help it blend. Stir in 1/2 cup of sesame seeds, saving the other half for later.

Shape 2 teaspoonful dough pieces into 2-inch-long ovals. Roll ovals in remaining sesame seeds. Place ovals approximate 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. *

Bake cookies 20 minutes or until lightly browned (you can smell them getting done). Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies according to the recipe but mine were more like 2 dozen. According to the recipe each cookie has 85 calories, so you can do the match for your batch.

* The shaping of the cookies generally kicked my ass when I was making these. I tried chilling the dough to make it easier, and that seemed to help a bit. My first batch was too dry, though, so I added more water and that made the batter almost soupy. I was getting dough on my fingers, the bowl and everywhere except in 2-inch-long ovals on the cookie sheet. If I added enough flour so I could form them into cute mounds, the seeds wouldn't stick when I rolled them. So good luck with that. But I believe the extra water helps in the end with keeping them from being crumbly and dry after baking.

toasted sesame cookies