Ingredients

• 1 cup (2
• sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon
• water
• 3/4 cup sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray cookie sheets.
2. Cream butter and sugar on medium speed until
3. thick and light, about 5 minutes. Set
4. aside.
5. In a separate bowl, beat eggs on high speed
6. until light. Stir into butter mixture. Beat in heavy cream. Mix in vanilla and baking powder. Gradually beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, to make a soft and pliable dough.
7. Gather dough into a ball and knead on a lightly
8. floured board or pastry cloth for about 3 minutes, or until dough is smooth.
9. Cover dough with a damp cloth to keep it soft while working on a section of
10. the dough. With your hands, break off a
11. walnut-sized piece of dough and roll into a pencil shape, about 1/2 inch to 3/4
12. inch thick. Twist cookies as you set
13. them on the cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. They should look a bit like
14. lengths of rope.
15. Bake in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. While cookies are baking, beat egg white with water.
16. Remove cookies from the oven. Brush with beaten egg white. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Return to oven and continue baking 2 to 4
17. minutes, until egg white has set and cookies are a light golden color. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.