Ingredients

makes about 60 cookies

　　3/4 cup sesame seeds

　　1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature, plus more for the baking sheets

　　1 cup all-purpose flour

　　1 cup semolina flour

　　1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

　　Pinch grated nutmeg

　　2 large eggs

　　1/2 teaspoon salt

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　2/3 cup sugar

　　

Step 1

Arrange one oven rack in the upper third of the oven and the other in the lower third. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spread the sesame seeds out on a baking sheet and bake them on the lower rack until toasted to golden brown, about 10 minutes. Shake the pan once or twice as they bake so they toast evenly. While the sesame seeds are toasting, lightly grease two baking sheets with some of the softened butter. (This isn’t necessary if you’re using non-stick baking sheets.)

　　

Step 2

Stir the all-purpose flour, semolina flour, baking powder, and nutmeg together in a mixing bowl until blended. Beat the eggs and salt together in a separate mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer until blended, then beat in the vanilla. Continue beating, adding the sugar gradually, until smooth. Drop the eight pieces of butter into the bowl and beat until almost smooth. Pour the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and beat at low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour or up to 1 day before forming and baking the cookies.

　　

Step 3

Pinch off a nectarine-size piece of the dough and roll it out with the palm and fingers of your hands, using light pressure, to a rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut the rope into 2-inch lengths, and roll them in the sesame seeds to coat completely. Transfer the coated cookies to the prepared baking sheets, and repeat with the remaining dough and seeds.

　　

Step 4

Bake the cookies until deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from rack to rack and side to side at least once during baking, so the cookies bake and brown evenly. Remove, and cool completely before serving.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.