Sesame White Chocolate Cookies

I've been promising my classes treats for weeks, months even. This semester has been a rough one so far due to multiple snow days in January and February, then the sudden death of a student, and now practice PARCC testing which disrupts our schedule further.

Still, my classes have been pretty good. I've been very impressed.

They deserve treats.

Speaking of school, I was once again nominated by our top seniors for the area Teacher of the Year award (which I won two years ago). This is my third nomination in the six years I've been at this high school. I'm proud, dammit! Yesterday, I got the recommendation letters they wrote for me. Reading them made me teary-eyed. ;-)

My senior classes usually get treats from me, so these cookies were for one of my sophomore classes which was randomly chosen to practice taking the new assessment tests online. They have to complete three reading and writing tests this week. It's time consuming and can be mentally exhausting.

I hope these treats will motivate them a little bit. 

Sesame White Chocolate Cookies

adapted from Dessert for Two

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make about 3 dozen

1/2 cup tahini (ground sesame paste) *
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces white chocolate chunks
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

* If you don't have or don't like tahini, you can substitute any nut butter.

• Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
• In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the tahini and butter.
• Add the brown sugar and beat well, until fluffy, about 30 seconds.
• Add the egg & vanilla and beat until combined.
• Sprinkle the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder evenly over the mixture, then beat until just combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chunks with a spatula.
• Scoop the dough by the tablespoon onto the cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with sesame seeds.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are starting to brown.
• Let cool on sheet pan for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.