These sweet Reginelle Cookies, also known as Italian sesame cookies or Regina Cookies (“Biscotti Regina” in Italian), originated in Palermo but are found all around Sicily. So if we want to be really precise these are Sicilian Sesame Cookies.
Whatever you call them, they are an absolute must-try! Not only are they insanely delicious, but they are also actually incredibly easy to make as well.
Table Of Contents
What You'll Love About These Cookies
- Flavor - Reginelle cookies have sweet, nutty flavor due to sesame seeds and a pleasant satisfying crunch that you’ll love from the first bite.
- Quick and easy to make - they are made without cookie cutter, hard-to-find ingredients and come together very quickly.
- Perfect for occasion - including Christmas Cookie Trays. But also for no occasion at all. You could simply make a batch just to fill your cookie jar. Enjoy them anytime of the day paired with a cup of hot tea or coffee.
- Try them Italian way - Pour yourself a glass of sweet Marsala wine.
With just seven easy to find ingredients you can whip up a batch of these delightful cookies in no time, and take yourself to Sicily without leaving your home. In fact, you may have most of these ingredients, if not all, in your pantry already.
INGREDIENTS
- Flour - all purpose flour.
- Butter - unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- Sugar - add 2 more tablespoons to the basic recipe if you like a bit of extra sweetness
- Baking powder, salt
- Lemon zest - from a non-treated lemon (or an orange). You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead
- Eggs - large eggs
- Sesame Seeds - if using raw sesame seeds, toast them lightly in a pan on low heat for a few minutes. Transfer in a bowl and let cool completely. Don’t overtoast sesame seeds as they’ll continue to brown in the oven when you bake the cookies. Toasting really helps to bring out all the flavors from the sesame seeds.
Yes, you can use raw sesame seeds, but the cookies with be much lighter in color and will have a much milder sesame flavor and aroma.
How To Make - Step By Step
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients needed for the dough. Mix with your hands or in a standing mixer until all ingredients are combined.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Set about ½ cup of flour aside (from the total amount) before making the dough. As the dough comes together add the remaining flour if needed. - Transfer the dough to work surface and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth ball forms.
- Wrap in a plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
MAKE AHEAD TIP: You can make the dough the day before and take it out of the fridge 2 hours before baking the cookies.
- Pinch of a nice piece of the dough and roll it out into about ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick rope. Cut each rope into about 2 inch (5 cm) pieces.
- If you want to have cookies more or less of the same size measure each piece you cut with a sample piece of dough.
- Press cookies with a palm of your hand to slightly flatten them out.
- Brush each cookie with water and roll in sesame seeds. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
ALTERNATIVELY: Arrange cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and using clean spray bottle spray them with water. Then dip each cookie in sesame seeds and place back on a baking sheet.
This last method is quicker but either one will work great for the final result that helps sesame seeds stick to the dough.
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown.
If you have little ones in the house, don’t forget to engage them as well. They will have so much fun dipping the cookies and rolling them in sesame seeds. And why not make a batch of these for Santa?
These Italian sesame cookies are sure to become a fast favorite for the entire family and will be requested often! So don’t forget to save the recipe.
How To Stor
Reginelle cookies keep really well. Store them in a cookies jar or airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month, if they last that long.
Make Ahead
You can make the dough 1-2 days in advance and take it out of the fridge 2 hours before baking the cookies.
More Italian Cookies To Try:
- Sicilian Almond Cookies {Paste Di Mandorla} – delicious and very easy to make
- Cuccidati – Italian Fig Cookies
- Papassini – Sardinian Anise Cookies
- Cantucci - crunchy Italian Almond Biscotti from Tuscani, perfect for dunking
- Italian Butter Cookies
- Bruttiboni – Italian Hazelnut Cookies
- Amaretti Cookies
- Canestrelli – Italian Egg Yolk Cookies
- Soft Lemon Crinkle Cookies
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Full Recipe
Reginelle (Italian Sesame Cookies)
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour , about 500 grams
- 1 ½ stick butter , 170 grams softened at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar , 140 grams - see additional notes
- 2 eggs
- 1 lemon (zest only)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
For Sesame Coating:
- 1 cup sesame seeds (lightly toasted) , 150 g
- Water to help sesame seeds stick to the dough
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine all ingredients needed for the dough. Mix with your hands or in a standing mixer until all ingredients are combined.NOTE: set about ½ cup of flour aside (from the total amount) before making the dough. As the dough comes together add the remaining flour if needed.
- Transfer the dough to work surface and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth ball forms. If the dough is too stiff and hard to put together add a little water or milk.
- Wrap in a plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Pinch of a nice piece of the dough and roll it out into about ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick rope. Cut each rope into about 2 inch (5 cm) pieces.If you want to have cookies more or less of the same size measure each piece you cut with a sample piece of dough.
- Press cookies with a palm of your hand to slightly flatten them out.
- Brush each cookie with water and roll in sesame seeds. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Alternatively arrange cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and using clean spray bottle spray them with water. Then dip each cookie in sesame seeds and place back on a baking sheet.This last method is quicker but either one will work great for the final result that helps sesame seeds stick to the dough.
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown.
- Let cool and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Lily says
Is it REALLY a Tablespoon of baking powder? Could it mean a Teaspoon? A tablespoon is so much and baking powder has a weird taste. I wasn’t brave enough to try a tablespoon because I was worried about ruining the batch and wasting the dough. Would you mind please confirming? Thanks.
Svi @ ItalianRecipeBook says
Yes, 1 tablespoon of baking powder is correct. However, please don't confuse it with baking soda. The weird taste you're referring to definitely belongs to baking soda, also known as bicarb or bicarbonate of soda and this is NOT what you should use in the recipe.
At least not in the same amount.
Baking powder is a leavening agent that is made with 1 part of baking soda and at least 2 parts of cream of tartar. As recipe states you'll need 1 tablespoon of this.
If you're not sure what you have on hand (due to differences in names in different countries) the best way to check is read the ingredient list. If it's only baking soda (bicarbonate) you can potentially use it but only 1/4 of teaspoon mixed with some acid like lemon juice.
If the packaging says: mix of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) AND cream of tartar it's baking powder and use the amount as per recipe.
Stephano says
I'm planning to triple the batch size for the holidays and wonder how you can bake several sheets in one oven simultaneously to reduce the total time for baking somewhat. Any suggestions on rotating the sheets and when?
Italian Recipe Book says
Hello Stephano, honestly I've never tried baking more than one sheet of these sesame cookies at a time. You probably can get away baking 2 sheets simultaneously and rotating them half through baking time and than again 5 minutes before doneness, make sure to check coloration. You'll also might need to increase cooking time slightly (5-8 minutes).
Having said that, I don't recommend baking more than 2 cookie sheets.
Let me know how it turns out.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Harvey says
@Italian Recipe Book,
Liz says
I followed the recipe exactly. These cookies/biscuits are AMAZING
Italian Recipe Book says
So happy you loved them, Liz! Enjoy
Janet says
I want to know how best to store these cookies to eat right away and how to freeze them as well. Thank you. They are delicious!
Ben says
I made this and found the same problem of the mixture was too dry. When I check the weight and volume, 4 cups weight around 580g. 3.5 cups would weight 500g. Most likely using 500g would be OK. I shall try next time using the weight and not volume for measurement.
Angela Oddo says
@Ben, I beat sugar and butter, then eggs, then added vanilla and lemon extract, then added flour one cup at a time. Ended up using about 3 cups flour. Added salt and baking powder with first cup of flour. Came out perfect!
Italian Recipe Book says
Thank you for your comment Angela, I'm so happy you liked these sesame seed cookies! Adding flour slowly is the best way to go if you don't have a kitchen scale.
Happy Holidays!
Italian Recipe Book says
Hello Ben, you're absolutely correct. Cup measurements are not precise since everyone might pack the cup differently. For the most consistent result it's best to weight ingredients, especially when baking. Thank you for trying my Reginelle recipe 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Mary says
@Angela Oddo, did you use lemon extract and vanilla in place of the lemon zest that is listed in recipe? If so, how much of each…about tsp?
Mary says
Angela, never mind, lol; found answer in list of suggestions after the recipe. Thanks anyway!
Tony says
When I used the proportions as noted above the dough was really dry and crumbly. I was not able to incorporate all the flour no matter how long I would knead it. On the assumption my eggs were small i added first one additional egg and then a second additional egg. At that point i would get it to coalesce but it still seemed dry. Will see how it goes when I form them and bake them..
Italian Recipe Book says
Hi Tony, the dough should not be soft but compact enough to form the ball. The flour and the eggs you use sure makes a difference. If the dough is crumbly you can a little bit of milk or water until it comes together.
I will be adding step by step pictures shortly so it's easier to see how it should look.
Happy Holidays!
Tony says
@Italian Recipe Book, thank you for your suggestions.
Tony
Sonia says
@Tony,
Thank God I was not the only one, I’ve doubled my recipe and there was no way I was going to incorporate all that flower and I used extra large eggs.
Italian Recipe Book says
Hello Sonia, the issue might be in the way your flour was measured. Keep in mind that cup measurements are not precise, so it's highly recommended to weight ingredients rather than measuring by volume. If you don't have a kitchen scale you can always start adding flour slowly and add more only if the dough calls for it.
Thank you for your comment and Happy Holidays!