My guilty pleasure: Lilly Higgins’s peanut butter and sesame cookies

Throughout Food Month we will have a daily “Guilty Pleasure” feature where well-known faces share their secret treats, from the delicious to the daring to the downright strange. You can win a great prize if your share your guilty pleasure with us. See below for details

“My guilty pleasure is peanut butter. Salty, savoury and delicious. I have it on toast with mashed banana for breakfast and add it to smoothies. I use it for satay sauces and slather it on noodles. But there’s nothing like a peanut butter sandwich. One slice of bread buttered, then a layer of peanut butter, folded in half and eaten whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. I was once scolded by a woman for eating peanut butter while I was pregnant. She ranted at me like a mad thing while I slowly chewed my peanut buttered covered bagel and sipped my tea in the cafe of the maternity hospital. It was the only thing that made me feel less nauseous and we have no history of nut allergies but my mouth was too full to tell her.

"My favourite biscuit is a buttery, crumbly peanut butter one with two types of sugar to balance out that salty goodness. I came up with the recipe for my Sesame Peanut butter cookies when I was writing my first book, Make Bake Love. Previous cookies were melting and smooth but I wanted the crunchy texture too and sesame seeds provide it along with that distinctive toasty nuttiness. Crunchy peanut butter in cookies just doesn't work. These are so delicious and everyone that bakes them becomes a little obsessed with them. I dunk them, warm from the oven, into a glass of ice cold milk and then sigh; They're amazing.

“One is never enough so this recipe makes a huge amount. I usually bake these cookies myself but my sister Rosie has been known to whip up a batch. It’s just the best when someone bakes you something you love.”

For more of Lilly’s recipes, see lillyhiggins.ie

Peanut Butter and Sesame Cookies

125g Butter, softened
85g Caster sugar
80g Demerara sugar
125g Smooth peanut butter
Half tsp vanilla essence
200g Plain flour
1 tsp Bread soda
50g Sesame seeds

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and both sugars together in a bowl until soft and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and mix well.
3. Sieve the flour and bread soda together in a bowl, then add to the peanut butter mixture. Combine well but don't overbeat.
4. Roll teaspoons of the dough into balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds and place on the lined baking tray. Flatten slightly.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes (or seven minutes for tiny cookies), until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly on the tray, then transfer to a rack.

To win an overnight stay for two with breakfast at Kelly's Hotel in Dublin plus dinner for two at L'Gueuleton French bistro, just tell us about your guilty pleasure. Whether it's tasty and tempting or odd and embarrassing, we want to hear about it. Email your entry plus your name and phone number to guilty@irishtimes.com and the winner will be announced at the end of Food Month.

[ irishtimes.com/food ]