Biscotti Regina (Sesame Cookies)
- Ready In:
- 1hr 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 10
- Yields:
-
50 cookies
ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup milk
- 2 cups sesame seeds
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 lb unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
directions
- Preheat oven 375°F; butter and flour two large baking sheets.
- Pour milk into a shallow bowl. Spread sesame seeds on a piece of wax paper. Set aside.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. On Low speed, beat in the butter a little at a time.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and orange zest. Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until well blended.
- Pinch off a piece of dough the size of a golf ball and shape into a log 2 1/2 inches long and 3/4 inch thick.
- Dip the log in the milk, then roll it in the sesame seeds. Place on a prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly. Continue with the remaining dough, placing cookies about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until well browned. Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
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Reviews
-
I've been making these cookies since I bought the Soprano's cookbook quite a few years ago. They always come out great. Well worth the effort it takes to make them. If I don't have orange zest, I add a quarter cup of orange juice to the batter. Comes out great every time. Roll and shape all the cookies first. Then dip in milk and roll in sesame seeds a few at a time. Speeds up the prep time. I bake them on parchment paper instead of buttering and flouring the baking sheets. Speeds up the cleanup, too. They freeze well and keep for a couple of months in the freezer. You cannot tell they were frozen. The recipe actually calls for "unhulled" sesame seeds. But I've used the hulled ones too. Only difference is how dark the seeds look after baking. Hulled will create much lighter looking cookies. Unhulled will brown more. Same wonderful taste.
Tweaks
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I've been making these cookies since I bought the Soprano's cookbook quite a few years ago. They always come out great. Well worth the effort it takes to make them. If I don't have orange zest, I add a quarter cup of orange juice to the batter. Comes out great every time. Roll and shape all the cookies first. Then dip in milk and roll in sesame seeds a few at a time. Speeds up the prep time. I bake them on parchment paper instead of buttering and flouring the baking sheets. Speeds up the cleanup, too. They freeze well and keep for a couple of months in the freezer. You cannot tell they were frozen. The recipe actually calls for "unhulled" sesame seeds. But I've used the hulled ones too. Only difference is how dark the seeds look after baking. Hulled will create much lighter looking cookies. Unhulled will brown more. Same wonderful taste.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
My parents are from Russia and I was born in Norway. I grew up in Queens, NY. I have lived in Guam, MA, and VA; and in all the places I have lived, I never found pizza, bagels, and bread like they make it in NY. As a New Yorker, you took it for granted, even bad pizzerias in NY were better than what I have tried elsewhere. So, for the past 20 years I have tried to develop my own dough, I have come close.
I have worked in Washington, DC, for 14 years in the Federal govt. My husband and I moved to Oregon in 2005. Just left our jobs and the East coast forever! Have no regrets! We love our new state/home. Enjoy camping, hiking, kayaking, and beachcombing. I love to read, mostly science fiction/fantasy novels, and craft projects. Over the years, cooking has developed into a passion for me, my husband is very happy about this obsession, his only gripe is I don't repeat a lot of his favorites because I'm always trying out something new, oh well. So many recipes so little time to explore them all. My cookbook collection is huge, can't help it, I admit it--its an addiction. Then the internet comes along with sites like this one and so many others, what is a person to do? Try them all of course! Since we moved to Oregon, we haven't hooked up our cable TV and don't miss it. In fact, we gained more time--we're in control!