Toasted Oat and Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies

Crumble is built into this cookie’s name: polvo is “dust” in Spanish. The key here is toasting the flour, as when making a roux, which, like browning butter and caramelizing sugar, brings depth of flavor. Heat also loosens the gluten structure, so the cookies—which require no baking—turn out yieldingly tender, almost like halva. I mix all-purpose flour with oats and black sesame seeds, both ground and whole, for earthiness and contrasts in texture; as the flour darkens in the pan, the kitch