Sesame orange almond cookies, adapted from a recipe at Don't Burn the Garlic. Crispy on the outside, sesame goodness on the inside.I substituted almond flour for 1/3 of the all-purpose flour in the original recipe. If you don't have almond flour, just go ahead and use three cups of all-purpose flour, as suggested by the original recipe.
Don't Burn the Garlic suggested adding a little orange zest -- it sounded like a great idea, and so I did, along with a little orange blossom water. However, while the resulting cookies were very good, they didn't have much of a citrus kick -- I'm not sure what more I could do to boost the orange flavor. Suggestions?
Ingredients1 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted (I used the lowest possible setting on my toaster oven)
2 sticks butter, softened
zest of one orange (optional)
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup almond flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, mix the toasted sesame seeds into the softened butter (it's OK if the butter melts).
Mix in the orange zest, orange blossom water, and vanilla extract.
Add the sugars and blend thoroughly.
Stir in the eggs.
Add the salt and baking powder.
Slowly stir in the almond and all-purpose flours, about 1 cup at a time.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and pre-heat the oven to 375 F.
Scoop up dough one teaspoon at a time, and roll into a ball with your hands. Place the rounded ball of dough on a non-stick cookie sheet.
Repeat until you filled the cookie sheet (12 cookies).
Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from oven, and place on a rack to cool.
I got almost 4 dozen cookies.
