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The crunchy cookies that every bakery has in Sicily: Biscotti Regina or Biscotti col Cimino (the Sicilian word for sesame). So easy, that you can even make them with your kids.
Biscotti col cimino are small, crunchy and not too sweet cookies, with a nutty aroma from sesame seeds that goes perfectly with coffee (but also liquor or sweet wine).
My mamma had a lot of rituals linked to coffee. On Sundays, she used to bring coffee to my bed to wake me up. She did it with a kiss, an espresso (we only drank these three coffee brands; Passalacqua or Kimbo or Trombetta), and a biscotto col cimino.
I loved the coffee aroma announcing she was coming, her sweet kiss (of someone who already had her second or third coffee), and that biscotto to dip into the black espresso was one of her countless kind gestures.
Into my house, there was always something sweet to pair with coffee, especially if we had guests coming over. I keep the same house rule.
My mom never made biscotti col cimino because Zia Lavinia used to bought tons of them during her annual summer trip to Palermo, and there was always a big pack of biscotti in the package that our cousin Cicci or
Zia Liliana sent us for Christmas.
So I started putting together the recipe on my own, test and modifying it until I found the perfect one.
As I share these biscotti with you, I hope that you will create your own sweet memories around them.
Ingredients:
For around 60/70 pieces of biscotti 2 inches long
- 250 gr. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 70 gr. (1/3 cup) sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 75 gr (6 tbsp) rendered pork fat/strutto.
(some other options are: vegetable spread, coconut oil, margarine, butter. Just be careful that butter might have a stronger taste, I listed it as options because it happened I wanted to make these biscotti and had only butter, and they turned out good. I prefer a neutral taste that lets sesame seeds be prominent). - 1 large egg at room temperature, beaten with a fork
- 1 teaspoon of baking ammonia (NOTE: this is a leavening agent, pretty common in Europe, and not the cleaners. It’s easy to find online, and a little jar lasts forever. If you want to know more about ammonia, I found this article). I recommend baking ammonia as the cookies will turn out super crunchy and will keep crispy longer. But you can sub with baking powder (1:1)
- zest of 1 lemon or 1 tsp of vanilla extract (or both if you like it)
- 100 gr. (1 cup) of sesame seed
- water just a small quantity to let sesame seeds grip to the biscotti
Instructions:
Put flours, sugar, salt, and baking ammonia (or baking powder) in a food processor and pulse just to mix the powders.
Add strutto or any fat you decided to use, and mix until you have a coarse meal. Add the beaten egg and the lemon zest and/or vanilla.
Let the food processor run until the dough begins to come together, but do not over process. I noticed every flour is different and sometimes the dough is still dry at this point. If it happens, add 1 tbsp of water at a time and pulse a few seconds more.
Dump the dough out onto a clean floured surface and shape it in a flat round. Double wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
After one hour, preheat the oven at 350 F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Take out the dough and divide it (note: if your kitchen is hot, keep the other half in the fridge while the first batch is made).
Shape the Reginelle by cutting your half dough and roll it to about 1/2 thick and cut it every 2″. (note: try to make all the biscotti all the same size, or they will not cook evenly).
Lightly spray with water all the biscotti and then roll them into the sesame seeds.
Bake the biscotti for 20 minutes, or until golden.
note: if you used the baking ammonia it will smell strong while baking. Don’t worry, it’s totally normal and it will disappear.
When ready, take the baking sheet out the oven and let it the biscotti cool on the sheet.
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container (I use tin boxes). They will keep fresh for a looooong time (if you don’t eat them all as I do).
A final note about zero waste: biscotti Regina shed sesame seeds while cooking and when stored. Please don’t waste them but reuse them, they are delicious.
