To be honest, I did NOT want to turn on the oven today. It is ridiculously hot. And while we have AC in the bedroom, there is not AC in the rest of the apartment. The thought of taking a kitchen that was already 90+° and turning an oven up to 375° seemed insane.

But after spending a lot of time looking through no-bake and icebox recipes, I just couldn’t find anything I was actually excited about. And I’ve been meaning to make these cookies for weeks, since I found them and thought they sounded interesting. So I sucked it up, largely for you, my faithful readers.

Also, because 4th of July isn’t until Wednesday, I’m still looking for a recommendation for something to make. This time, I really do want to find something no-bake, and preferably gluten free. I’m thinking some kind of red, white, and blue bark, but could be convinced otherwise. Leave a comment if you have an idea!

So these cookies though. Despite the heat, I am glad I made them. The dough was assembled very differently than any other cookie I’ve made, and I’ve made a lot of cookies. And even though they look kind of like crackers, they’re sweet and light. Exactly the kind of thing I wanted to have around when I have frequent cravings for some kind of treat while I’m studying for the bar exam.

First, in a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, and baking soda. See what I mean? Isn’t that weird? It’s like a science experiment. It fizzes up when you let it sit.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, salt, and shortening on low speed until dough resembles coarse sand. Another weird step! Who combines flour and the fat first? I’ve always ever combined sugar and fat in cookies!

Add the egg mixture and milk mixture in two additions each, alternating, and beating on low speed to fully incorporate after each addition. Split the dough into four equal pieces. I was very skeptical that I’d be able to work with the dough without refrigerating it, especially in this heat, but it actually worked totally fine, so don’t get to anxious about it. Spread the sesame seeds on a piece of parchment paper. Take one quarter of the dough and roll out until it’s about 1/2 inch in diameter. Roll the log through the sesame seeds to coat thoroughly. A word on the sesame seeds. I used toasted sesame seeds, rather than raw, because I could buy them in a much bigger quantity at the store. The raw ones were in the spice aisle and only came in one ounce containers for $7. The toasted ones were in the international foods aisle and I could get a 5 ounce bottle for $6. Clearly that was the better option.

Cut the log into 2 inch pieces and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart.  Repeat with remaining dough and sesame seeds.

Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. I don’t have a wire rack here, so I just put them on more parchment paper, but a wire rack is definitely preferable. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. I think these would be really good in vanilla ice cream, but I also think just about everything would be better with ice cream today.

Enjoy!

Sesame Seed Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Set aside.
2. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat flour, salt, and shortening on low speed until dough resembles coarse sand.
4. Add egg mixture and milk mixture in 2 additions each, alternating, and mixing on low speed to incorporate after each addition.
5. Split dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll dough out into a 1/2-inch diameter log. Roll through sesame seeds to coat liberally.
6. Cut log into 2 inch pieces. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake at 375°F for about 10 minutes, until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.