Italian Sesame Cookies
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Toasty, crisp sesame on the outside and a tender, buttery cookie underneath. These Italian sesame seed cookies are the first ones I reach for on a cookie tray. You might also know them as biscotti regina, reginelle, or giuggiulena.
Traditional Sicilian biscotti regina are made with lard and baker’s ammonia. The fat is rubbed into the flour by hand, and the cookies are dipped in water before rolling in sesame, so they bake up crunchy all the way through. Italian-American bakeries make them much the same way, usually with shortening, sometimes with anise, and always crisp and dry for dunking in coffee.
Mine go the other way. I cream butter, sugar, and plenty of eggs into a richer dough, then roll it in sesame. The coating still bakes up crisp, but underneath, the cookie stays tender and buttery. They’re sweet enough to feel like a treat, but the sesame is what you taste. And because the dough needs to chill, you can mix it days before you bake.
If you’ve ever wished bakery sesame cookies were a little softer and richer, these are for you.
Why I Love These!
- Butter, not shortening. Most bakery-style versions use shortening or lard. Butter gives these a richer flavor.
- No anise. Many versions add anise extract, while these are flavored with vanilla and toasty sesame. That’s good news for anyone at your table who skips the anise cookies.
- Stand mixer method. You cream the butter and sugar and you’re done, with no cutting cold butter into flour or pulling out the food processor.
- Make-ahead dough. It keeps in the fridge up to 4 days or in the freezer for 2 months, so you can mix it one day and bake another.
- Bake weeks ahead. Baked cookies freeze for up to 6 months, which takes pressure off Christmas baking.
- Barely sweet. The sesame is the main flavor, and they’re made for dunking in coffee.
On my Christmas cookie tray, these sit next to pignoli cookies for a second nutty bite. Angela’s ricotta cookies offer a soft contrast, and Italian orange cookies add a touch of citrus. I also love to pair them with Italian wedding cookies (anginetti).
Ingredients Notes and Overview
A full list of ingredients and measurements is in the recipe card.
- Flour – I use all purpose flour, unbleached and un-bromated.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter
- Sugar – granulated sugar (not powdered)
- Vanilla – extract is fine
- Sesame seeds – you can lightly toast these for even more flavor.
- Milk – any kind works
Overview
This dough is simple to make, but requires refrigeration to firm up the dough before baking. This means you can make the dough up to a few days before baking.
- To begin, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Then add vanilla and combine.
- Add flour mixture (flour, baking powder, and salt) and mix until combined. Dough will be a little sticky (like chocolate chip cookie dough)
- Scrape into a plastic bag or container and refrigerate for at least one hour or more. Make sure the dough in stored in an air tight contained.
- When ready to bake, remove dough from the container and divide into 5 portions.
- Roll each piece into a long log, about 1.5 inch thickness and then cut about 2 to 2.5 inches long
- Paint the cookies with milk and then toss a few at a time with sesame seeds
- Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes on center rack.
- Unbaked cookies should not be warm to the touch – if the dough warms up too much, refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
- Bottom of cookies will be slightly browner than the top. Enjoy!
Make Ahead and Storage
Make the dough ahead. This dough has to chill anyway, so it’s easy to split the work across days. Wrap it airtight and refrigerate for up to 4 days, or freeze it for up to 2 months. Well-chilled dough is firmer, and firm dough is much easier to roll into ropes than the sticky dough straight out of the mixer.
Bake ahead for the holidays. These cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. That means you can bake them well before Christmas and pull them out when it’s time to build the cookie tray.
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📖 Recipe
Italian Sesame Seed Cookies (Biscotti Regina)
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Ingredients
- 3.5 cups flour sifted (can add more if dough is very sticky), plus more to flour counter when rolling.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For Topping Cookies
- 1.5 cups sesame seeds up to 2 cups
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat butter and sugar until lightened (about 2 to 3 minutes)
- Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined before adding the next one.
- Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. May add a little more flour if dough is overly soft. Should be like a stiff but somewhat sticky cookie dough.
- Remove mixture from bowl and add to a plastic bag or storage container and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight to completely firm up.
- About 1/2 hour before the dough is removed from the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the dough into about 5 equal pieces, then roll each piece into a rope about 1.5 inches thick on a lightly floured counter. May use additional flour if the dough is too sticky.
- Cut each rope into 2 to 2.5 inch cookies and set aside on tray.
- Pour sesame seeds into a pile on the counter.
- Top the cookies with sesame by brushing with milk and rolling the cookies, a few at a time, in the sesame seeds.
- Cookies should still be firm to the touch – if they are warm and/or too soft, refrigerate the unbaked cookies for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking.
- Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
Notes
- Make ahead: Refrigerate the dough in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
- Storage: Keep baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
- Freezing: Freeze baked cookies in a freezer bag or airtight container for up to 6 months.
- Sticky dough: If the dough is hard to roll, chill it longer before adding more flour. Extra flour makes the cookies dry.
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