As the primary baker of my friend group, it’s common for me to get special baking requests. A birthday cake here, a pie tutorial there – it’s always a huge compliment to be thought of when someone needs something special. So when my friend Sarah reached out and asked if I could recreate a batch of cookies I made a few months ago, I was thrilled. Not only had the cookies been fun to make, but I now had an opportunity to improve upon the first batch.

Baking is one of my creative outlets, and like a lot of creatives, I tend to critique my finished work. The biggest difference with baking, however, is that you can’t just add a few more brushstrokes of paint or zhuzh something up with rhinestones and glitter – you have to start from scratch.

This week I recreated Lauren Sephton’s recipe for Citrusy Earl Grey White Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which I found on her blog, “A Bright Moment” (abrightmoment.com). What initially drew me to this recipe was the use of Earl Grey tea. Earl Grey is a black tea infused with bergamot oil, and because bergamot is a type of citrus, it pairs perfectly with fruits like lemon and orange. Unlike those more common baking fruits, however, bergamot also imparts a lovely floral or botanical note. This cookie is all about building layers of distinct yet complementary flavors.

Please note: I made a few changes to further enhance the flavor and texture of these cookies and listed them as optional in the written recipe. If you don’t have all of these ingredients on hand, don’t fret – your cookies will still turn out delicious.

The first step of this recipe calls for browning your butter. If you caught my column from a few weeks ago, “Brown butter makes everything better,” hopefully you’ve already tried this technique in the kitchen. I decided to experiment with reducing the butter a bit and added some toasted sesame oil. The original recipe calls for rolling the edges of the cookie dough in sesame seeds before baking, so I wanted to bring that flavor into the dough as well. I needed to be careful, though – I didn’t want to add too much sesame oil, since it’s liquid at room temperature and could make the cookies too soft.

Speaking of, do we dare bring up the ever-controversial topic of cookie texture? Are you team soft, chewy cookie, or do you prefer a crisp, crunchy cookie that can hold up to being dunked in milk? Personally, I always want to strike a balance. Thankfully, I’ve found a foolproof method to achieve the perfect cookie with crunchy edges and a soft, chewy middle. Halfway through baking, take the cookies out and bang the baking sheet on the counter a few times. Do this once more when you take them out of the oven at the end. Not only is this cathartic, but it creates crispy, crinkly, delicious edges while keeping the centers soft and chewy – in other words, perfection.

I hope you try these. In a month when we tend to bake pumpkin-flavored everything, it was nice to mix it up a bit. These cookies are perfectly toasty and sweet thanks to the brown butter, sesame oil and white chocolate, yet they’re delightfully bright and aromatic from the citrus and Earl Grey tea. Share these with your friends and you, too, might become the person who gets special baking requests because they’re just that good.

Readers, please remember to keep creating, keep sharing what you create, and never be afraid to start from scratch. You might just bake the perfect cookie.

CITRUS & EARL GREY WHITE CHOCOLATE SESAME COOKIES

Yield: 20–24 cookies

Ingredients:
14 tablespoons (200 grams) butter
2 tablespoons (26 grams) toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup Earl Grey tea leaves
134 grams granulated cane sugar
Zest of 2 oranges
295 grams light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon paste optional
Juice of 1 orange
300 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3.5 oz. Private Selection White Chocolate Blonde Swiss bar, chopped optional
9 oz. white chocolate baking chips (use 12 oz. if not adding the Blonde Swiss bar)
1/2 cup white sesame seeds (for rolling)

Directions:
■ In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter. Once melted, continue stirring until brown specks form and it smells nutty, about 5–6 minutes.
■ Remove from heat and stir in the Earl Grey tea leaves and toasted sesame oil. Let steep 10–15 minutes, depending on desired strength.
■ In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Mix with your fingers to release the oils.
■ Add the eggs, egg yolks, light brown sugar, vanilla and lemon paste (if using). Whisk vigorously for 1 minute.
■ Strain the tea leaves from the butter mixture. Pour the butter mixture and orange juice into the egg mixture. Whisk for 1 more minute.
■ In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and fold together.
■ If using, roughly chop the white chocolate bar and fold it in along with the white chocolate chips.
■ Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour.
■ Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
■ Using a large cookie scoop (about 2 ounces of dough), evenly distribute cookies on the pans, spacing them 3–4 inches apart.
■ Roll each dough ball in sesame seeds.
■ Bake 10–15 minutes, until centers are set. Halfway through baking, gently bang the pan against the stovetop to create ripples. Repeat when removing from the oven.
■ Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

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