Peanut Butter - Black Sesame Seed Cookies

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...also known as: "HELP! I CAN'T STOP EATING THESE!!"

And of course there's a story...

Dave and I are going down to NYC tomorrow and Jake and Sam have chosen to stay home (to play WoW, to keep the woodstove stoked and the house warm, to care for the doggies...). I was going to go out today and get them some groceries, but I really just was *stuck*. And I know when I'm not feeling *right* about something ~ even something as seemingly simple as going out to the grocery store, I know to just Not Do Anything.

So that's what I did. Or didn't do.

Sam got up at about 10:30 and I discussed it with him...and the snow just kept snowing and the wind just kept blowing and my *feeling* to Not Do Anything felt confirmed. Plus, with leaving my boys tomorrow, I was not feeling good about leaving them today. I wanted to be WITH them today.

So I asked if they could get by ~ happily ~ on the food we have here in the house. It seems like the larder is low, yet the cupboards are not empty and the pantry is even well-stocked. So I began rummaging around to see what I could find for them. Sam, being the meat-man, approved of the skinless chicken thighs I took out of the freezer for him.

I noticed the bread was low, and so I started to get things around to make a loaf. My boys have been loving rye and pumpernickel lately, and I remembered I had rye flour in the cupboard. So I checked my book *Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day* and yes, they had an awesome recipe for rye bread. And then on the back of the bag of organic rye flour, I noticed a recipe for pumpernickel bread! And I had all of *those* ingredients, too! So, I mixed up a batch of *that*, too.

While the doughs were rising, I knew I wanted to make some sort of cookie for Jake and Sam for tomorrow. I, personally, had a peanut butter cookie craving. However, I couldn't find a lot of peanut butter in the cupboard. So down to the pantry I went. While I was down there, I rummaged around to see what else I could bring up for them. I found some Paula Deen Vidalia Onion Peach Grilling Sauce that I thought Sam could use on his chicken thighs. I found some black sesame seeds that I had bought a long time ago. I remembered I had once made sesame seed shortbread and thought I could make *black* sesame seed shortbread if I couldn't find more peanut butter. And alas ~ no...I could *not* find more peanut butter.

So back upstairs I went, looking one last time in our cupboard for more p.b. THERE IT WAS!! The WHOLE TIME!! I sat down to the computer and googled *black sesame seed cookie recipe* and guess what came up... GUESS!!! YES!!! This one for PEANUT BUTTER-Black Sesame Seed Cookies! Both of my wishes came true in one recipe. And if I had found the peanut butter on the first look-through, I wouldn't have brought up the black sesame seeds.

These cookies have no flour. They are magic. And they are SO delicious. And gorgeous. And delicious. And cute.

So...as always... EnJoy...










p.s. ~ when my honey came home at noon-time, bringing Jake home after going to a meeting and taking my Jeep into the shop quick and picking up our trash to take to the landfill and then going back to another meeting and then to the office to do more work, he said to me, "I'm so glad you didn't go out. Don't do it ~ it's just so windy and cold out. I can pick up any groceries we may need before I come home tonight." He's My Love.


p.p.s. ~ Chef Sam discovered we had all of the ingredients necessary for jambalaya with chicken thighs. Genius. He made it tonight and just finished washing all the dishes (8:40 p.m.) and he's SO looking forward to being *off* tomorrow and just eating his delicious creation.

p.p.s. ~ the rye bread is THE BEST RYE BREAD we have ever eaten.

OK...time for the cookie recipe...

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Peanut Butter - Black Sesame Seed Cookies (I made a double batch today)


* 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 5 tablespoons black sesame seeds (why measure, really?...just lots and lots of black sesame seeds!)


Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Beat together peanut butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until combined well, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and baking soda until combined well.

Place sesame seeds in a shallow bowl. Roll packed, level teaspoons of dough into balls, then roll in seeds to coat. Arrange balls about 1 inch apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets.

Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through, until puffed and cracked, about 10 minutes.

Cool on baking sheets 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.

EnJOY.
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