It’s been a while since I posted an actual recipe, let alone a cookie recipe! Back to my roots, I suppose.

Literally going back to my roots tomorrow morning as we leave for the US- first time back since we moved to London in December and we’ll be there for 3 weeks visiting both of our families. Even though America is a literal dumpster fire at the moment, I’m very excited to see people I love but mostly Louise.

Not much to report here, it’s Greta’s world and I’m just steering the stroller in it. She has picked up on a lot of my phrases such as “You don’t talk to me like that,” “That’s SO naughty,” and “That’s not a very good idea” and uses them against me in oddly appropriate circumstances.

In spite of her terrible two-year-old ‘tude, I actually think she’ll do quite well on the flight. She’s old enough now to be entertained by a movie, specifically the Frozen franchise (aka “Elsa and Ana”). My original thought in showing this to her over some Disney classics from my childhood was the emphasis on sisterhood rather than the prince-saves-princess trope. It worked, and she’s obsessed with it, frequently singing the Northuldra tribal chant and telling us at the dinner table “You can if it’s true love!” Her use of this phrase wasn’t as timely as her reprimands to me.

Elsie, on the other hand, will be like holding a mechanical bull as my “lap infant”. She’s the happiest baby on the block but, at 10 months old, has an extremely short attention span and is very heavy. I’m praying we get the cot seats on our flight (more to come on traveling with kiddos) so that I can let her get down on the floor for a bit.

Anyway, these cookies are very delicious and I made them twice in the last week. The first step to this recipe is to make these noodles, which we loved. My only edit was adding julienned carrots and red bell pepper. BTW, I’ve taken to serving dishes like this separated out for Greta so she has more power over what she’s eating on her plate. This was one good tip from all the Mom Instagram spam I’m getting now.

When I had that jar of tahini in my fridge I wanted to use it, and I found a recipe for cookies on NYT Cooking. After reading through some of the reviewer comments (this is essential, by the way, any time you’re using one of their recipes), I made some tweaks and edits and came up with this beauty. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Tahini Cookies

adapted from NY Times Cooking

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup tahini

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 tbs vanilla extract

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 cup + 2 tbs flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

chocolate chips

Heat the butter in a skillet over medium high heat, turning the pan to let the butter melt and eventually brown. The top will get foamy and it will smell nutty. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool.

Combine the sugars and tahini and the browned butter. Add the egg and egg yolk, and the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients in, then a generous handful of chocolate chips. The dough will be soft and shiny- not your average cookie dough texture.

Refrigerate the dough for at least four hours. It needs to firm up before baking. Scoop into balls (consider topping with a little flaky salt!) and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.

The GS said these are the best chocolate chip cookies he’s ever had. They have great texture and they aren’t overly sweet- definitely more of a complex flavor than the standby Nestle Tollhouse recipe.

When contemplating having a third cookie, I just had to look to Greta to assure me “You can if it’s true love!!” It certainly is.