Preheat oven to 350°. Place a rack in the center of the oven.

In a large skillet, add the sesame seeds and on medium heat, lightly toast them. Keep moving the pan around as they’re getting a little color, you don’t want them to get too brown. Turn them out onto a parchment lined baking tray to cool.

Line two more baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.

In another large bowl, by hand or with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and mix to combine.

Add in the flour mixture a little bit at a time. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl to combine well. Add in the milk a tablespoon at a time, until you have a soft dough.

Dump out the dough onto a clean work surface. Work the dough just a bit until it is smooth and cohesive, adding a little flour if it’s needed to bring the dough together.

Roll the dough into ropes that are approximately ¾ inch thick. Brush with egg wash and roll them in the toasted sesame seeds. Cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces depending how big you want your cookies to be.

Space out the cookies 1-inch apart on the baking sheets (depending on how you cut them, this should make about 22-24 cookies).

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.