Sesame White Chocolate Cookies

with tahini and honey!

It’s been a week of listening to hot, scalding, “what happened” election takes and watching Trump give jobs like defense secretary to people like weekend Fox News hosts. So in the last few days, I’ve decided to try to focus on the local and state level stuff to feel something other than anger and dread. Here are two New York issues that I’ve been paying attention to that are a glimmer of hope right now:

1. Governor Kathy Hochul says congestion pricing is back on the table. The toll on cars entering mid and lower manhattan that will reduce traffic, increase air quality, improve safety and, most importantly, fund the $15 billion hole she left in the MTA budget when she axed it. After the election, Hochul no longer had to worry about New York turning red in response to the plan (which, it’s already in the process of because of failed governance by Dems) which explains the conspicuous timing. The new proposal is less than what we wanted — they want the toll price to drop from $15 to $9 and gradually raise from there, which will only rip this band-aid off slower. But it shows that the calls we made, the protests, did something. It’s just nice to see good policy get a chance — even in a corrupt, gridlocked system where there only ever seems to be money for more cop overtime.

2. The New York City Council voted Wednesday to pass the FARE Act, which would make landlords, not tenants, pay the fees of the broker the landlord hired. These fees can get up to 15-20% of the yearly rent and make looking for an apartment for most people extremely daunting. All for a broker the tenants never hired, who sometimes just shows up to open a door, sometimes whom the tenants never meet at all. It’s common sense policy (we’re one of the only major cities where tenants pay fees for brokers they didn’t hire) although it might raise rents over the short term (psst, landlords in non-rent stabilized buildings are allowed to raise rents however they much anyway, and they do!). But that is a fight for another day; we need rent regulation! Just like congestion pricing, it will have huge benefits down the line. Huge shoutout to Council-member Chi Ossé who introduced and fought for this bill.

Updates

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I’m so excited about this. It’s been a long time coming and I thought it would take forever but it maybe took two hours. And I think it’s going to help you all (and even the people who don’t read this newsletter — if you can imagine that!) to not only find specific recipes, but also browse by baked good category, Substack or website, paid vs. free. Go take it for a spin!

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This Week’s Recipe

If you are a close follower of the goings on with easygayoven, you might recognize these cookies as the ones I served up at my popup at Edy’s Grocer back in October. I had never published the recipe, which felt like a right shame! They are inspired by a cookie recipe I published many years ago, the sesame honey cookies, which are one of the recipes that certain friends won’t leave me alone about until I make them for them again.

edysgrocer

A post shared by @edysgrocer

For this extended-cut-dance-megamix-part-2 version, we’ve created a cookie that is thicker, but still chewy, slightly savory and nutty from the addition of sesame oil and tahini, with a creaminess from pools of white chocolate. And if that wasn’t enough, a little crunch and visual flair from toasted sesame seeds! And if that wasn’t enough, we’re also browning the butter!

I realize the ingredients list kind of high maintenance, you might not always have tahini or sesame oil on hand, but I think they’re both really important pantry items to have around either way. If you really want a substitution, you could replace the sesame oil with a neutral oil you like.

Sesame White Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 18 cookies