No Heart Attack Valentine's Day Cookies

On this day of excessive sweetness, I think that this delicious mildly nutty cookie is a good palate cleanser.  The great thing about these cookies is their subtlety.  Unlike richer, sweeter cookies and cakes, you can eat lots of these without feeling like you might have a heart attack.  What more can you ask for on Valentine's Day?

These cookies come from Gourmet's Favorite Cookies Archives (They are From 1955).  The tops of the cookies crack appealingly, and they are best when the sesame seeds on the bottom brown a little bit which brings out their flavor.  These cookies last really well, just be careful not to shake them too much because the seeds will fall off.

Biscotti di Regina (Queen's Biscuits)

1 cup butter (unsalted)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk 

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

5 cups flour 

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoon baking powder

white sesame seeds (A whole spice jar or more*)

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg, and gradually add the milk and vanilla.  Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Gradually mix the dry ingredients in with the butter sugar mixture.  If the dough is too dry, add more milk (I've never had to do this).  Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Preheat the oven to 400° **

Put your sesame seeds in a bowl.  Break off pieces of the chilled dough and use your palms to form walnut sized balls (I used about a Tablespoon of dough for each).  Roll the dough balls in the sesame seeds coating them on all sides.  Bake them on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper, but the seeds keep them from sticking regardless), for 14 minutes (or until the tops are golden, the bottoms are nicely browned, and the tops have cracked).  

Cool them on a cookie rack and share them with those you love (or keep them all for yourself).

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 a pound, but that is A LOT.  You have several sesame seed options: you can splurge and buy a fancy spice bottle full, or you can get the less expensive bags (I found the "El Guapo" brand ones in my grocery store - I don't recommend using the "natural" ones, they are a little earthy-tasting). 

** The original recipe had the cookies bake at 45o° for 10-12 minutes, but they turned out really well for me when I cooked them at 400° for 14 minutes.