Italian Sesame Cookies Recipe

Sesame Cookies: Are you curious about this recipe? They are Sicilian reginelle, a sweet specialty that combines the simple preparation of shortcrust pastry with an unexpected and irresistible taste given by the addition of sesame.

It is said that these sesame biscuits were invented in Palermo by the nuns of the monastery of the Seven Angels, known as Pignatelli, from the name of the founder of the brotherhood of the Seven Angels.

Later this name was changed to the more elegant “reginelle” or “biscotti regina” in honour of Queen Carolina, who, in exile in Palermo, visited all the female monasteries in the city.

In dialect they are also called “viscotti ca gigiulena” (which means sesame) or “viscotta 'nciminati” from “cimino”, another dialect name for sesame.

They should not be confused with the typical Regina biscuits from the city of Catania, soft and covered in lemon icing, also called “Totò” and often prepared together with the “bersaglieri”, covered in cocoa.

Fragrant and unique in flavor, the queen biscuits are very popular in Sicily and you may have tasted them if you have stayed on the island.

Reginelle, also called queen biscuits, or sesamini are sesame biscuits typical of Sicilian tradition and in particular of Palermo, where they are sold in pastry shops but often also at the baker's. In fact, they are simple and genuine dry biscuits, made of a crumbly shortcrust pastry and entirely covered in sesame seeds, which make the queen biscuits crunchy and give them a unique flavour.

Excellent to serve for breakfast or as a snack, sesame biscuits are also perfect at the end of a meal, accompanied by coffee or a glass of sweet wine. Preparing Sicilian sesame biscuits is very simple: the shortcrust pastry is quickly kneaded by hand and left to rest in the fridge for half an hour; then, form little rolls that are cut with a knife, obtaining small cylinders that are then passed through a little water and sesame seeds.

To prepare sesame biscuits, therefore, you do not need special molds or even a rolling pin. The original recipe for sesame reginelle calls for lard and baking ammonia. I replaced the former with butter, so that I could serve the sesame biscuits to vegetarians too. The baking ammonia is important to give the sesame biscuits the right crunchiness and keep them that way for a long time. The yeast makes them a little softer but if you don't have the ammonia you can use it without any problems, the reginelle will still be delicious.

Ingredients

• 500 g flour
• 200 g sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 150 g lard
• 150 toasted sesame seeds
• 5 g baking ammonia
• 1 pinch salt

Procedure

Melt the lard with the flour, working it with your fingertips. Arrange the mixture in a fountain shape, in the center place the sugar, eggs, ammonia, salt. Knead adding warm water to taste until you obtain a soft dough, like bread dough. Let it rest for a couple of hours.

Break off small pieces of dough, make some pasta sticks and cut them into 6 cm pieces, then roll them in the sesame seeds (without exaggerating); arrange them in a baking pan lightly greased with a drizzle of olive oil. Place in a preheated oven and cook at 180 degrees for about half an hour.

Brown well and serve once cooled.

They are ideal to enjoy with a cup of tea or at the end of a meal with a Sicilian fortified wine such as Malvasia or Passito. Some have even tried to pair them with Sicilian granita !

The biscuits keep well for several days in a biscuit tin or in a milk carton.

Sesame Cookies Without Ammonia and Lard

If you want to try the recipe for these biscuits right away, but you don't have ammonia (ammonium carbonate) at home, which is suitable as a leavening agent for dry cakes and small biscuits, you can replace it with yeast in the same doses, while the lard can be replaced in equal quantities with butter or seed oil. The final result, however, will not be identical to that of the original preparation.