I don't spend much time thinking about celebrities (granted, I did stand near Kevin from This is Us the other day and may have told every person I know). And even though I can't give you the name of any professional athlete, I am still a fan of some people. These people just spend  more time with butter and sugar and chocolate and proudly know the difference between a good and bad baking sheet.

So I think it's safe to say I was pretty pumped when I found out I was going to spend the afternoon with Edd Kimberr, the winner of the first season of The Great British Baking Show. I was even more pumped when I arrived and realized that I also got to meet a few local bakers that I have followed for years: Zoe of Zoe Bakes and Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog. 

So I did what any sane baker would do and slipped Edd a box of my favorite cookies: my chocolate chocolate chip cookie and my new toasted sesame cookie. He could be a fantastic actor but I'm pretty sure he loved them :). 

Speaking of sesame, I think sesame seeds make everything better. Maybe not bagels, though. Sesame seed bagels fall to the bottom of my list right after poppy seed. And halva? No, thank you, I try to avoid ingesting sawdust. 

But hand me a bottle of sesame oil, a plate of sesame balls, an entire pan of sesame rice krispie treats, and a stack of these chewy, buttery, sesame-y cookies and I'm good to go.

Toasted Sesame Seed Cookies

225 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp.
300 grams sugar
1 large egg + 1 yolk
225 grams all-purpose flour
65 grams toasted sesame seeds*
45 grams toasted sesame seed flour*
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt

*I use a mix of white and black sesame seeds. Toast the seeds in a pan on medium heat until they become fragrant and golden brown. To make the flour, grind the toasted sesame seeds until fine.

Make the cookies: Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and egg yolk and beat for 8 minutes or until very light and fluffy. 

On low speed, add the flour, sesame seeds, sesame seed flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat just until the dough comes together, ~1 minute.

Cover and the chill the dough for a minimum of 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Using a size 20 scoop, bake for 13 minutes.