Maltese cookies aren't exactly up there with French pastries.
They're pretty simple and bland.
I wasn't too thrilled with Maltese cookies.
Like they say, a prophet isn't appreciated in his home town.
Maybe familiarity bred contempt.
I'll let you be the judge.
Here's a recipe for Maltese Sesame Ring Biscuits, Qagħag tal-Ġulglien.
Biskuttini tar-Raħal
Grease & flour 2 large cookie sheets
Preheat oven to 350º
Sift together
350 g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
grated rind of a lemon
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of cinnamon
----
In a large mixing bowl, beat until foamy
3 large eggs
Add
350 g sugar
Beat constantly until fluffy.
Add the dry ingredients.
----
Scoop the dough with a spoon and place on the greased pans.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes (until they are golden).
Cool on racks.
Decorate with a drizzle of Royal icing.
Makes about 30 cookies
These were called biscuits.
You can imagine the confusion when we learned about English and American biscuits.
You can imagine the confusion when we learned about English and American biscuits.
My nanna used to put aniseed in the biskuttini tar-raħal mixture
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYes, anise would give the biskuttini tar-raħal a nice flavour, too.
Thank you for sharing that hint!
Sahha!
The recipe that you have is very bland, so you would end up with a bland taste!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is bland, but that's how Ma made them.
DeleteYou could add a bit of anise, or other spice, for a variation.
Caraway seeds are the traditional seeds used in these biskuttini. With ground cloves. Makes all the difference and they're not bland at all.
ReplyDeleteHi, Mary Anne,
DeleteAdding caraway seeds and ground cloves sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing!