Sesame-Absinthe Cigars Recipe From Caitlin Freeman

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons absinthe (or Chartreuse or Sambuca), divided
• 1 cup sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. To the sieve, add the flour, sugar and baking powder and sift into the bowl. Whisk in the salt, then drizzle the olive oil over the dry ingredients. Use your fingers to rub the olive oil into the dry ingredients until the texture looks like fluffy, fine cornmeal, about 3 minutes.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour-olive oil mixture and add the eggs. Add 1 tablespoon absinthe and then use a fork to whisk the Absinthe into the eggs. Use the fork to begin incorporating the flour into the egg mixture until completely incorporated.
4. Lightly flour the work surface and transfer the dough to it. Knead by hand until the dough lightens in color and becomes smooth, about 3 minutes. Add flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking; if the dough looks greasy or pockmarked, continue kneading. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
5. Into a shallow bowl, add the remaining 3 tablespoons absinthe; on a separate small plate, place the sesame seeds.
6. Re-flour the work surface and roll each of the dough pieces into an 18-inch-long rope. Divide the rope into six 3-inch-long pieces. Dip a piece of rope into the absinthe, then roll it through the sesame seeds; set on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, placing them at least ½ inch apart.
7. Bake the cookies until the sesame seeds are golden but the cookies are pale, rotating the pan midway through cooking, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool 10 minutes before using a metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days.