Every year for my Latin class in grade school, we had a (semi-traditional) Roman Banquet. I chose to bake sesame cookies fairly consistently for two reasons. First, they’re extremely easy and require few ingredients, and second, they’re delicious – the perfect combination of cookie and biscuit. Yet another reason to admire the Romans.
This morning, after waking up late and enjoying my first free day in a while, I decided to revisit this wonderful snack. Since the cookies are sweetened with honey (they’re not overly sweet), I can completely justify eating them with breakfast.
The dough takes about ten minutes to make. Chill it in the refrigerator for about an hour, then bake for another ten minutes.
Ancient Roman Honey Cookies
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
Instructions:
In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine butter, honey and eggs with an electric mixer until well combined. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Cover and chill the dough about 1 hour or until firm.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two baking sheets. Form chilled dough into 1-inch balls and place balls on prepared baking sheets.
Flatten each ball slightly. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove cookies from baking sheets and roll in sesame seeds while still warm. Cool on a wire rack.
After searching a bit online, I found the recipe above from The Sacramento Bee, which is very similar to the recipe my Latin teacher gave me years ago. The only change I made is to brush the cookies with a bit of melted butter before dipping into the sesame seeds. If you don’t want the extra butter (even though they taste great…), just roll the cookies in sesame seeds before you bake them (they won’t stick without butter once they’re cooked).
Particularly if you’re in the mood to make fun shapes (see picture above), the recipe above will make about 40 cookies. Make all 40, though, because they’ll be eaten quickly!
I’d love to hear from any Latin students/parents of students about ancient Roman festivities taking place in schools. Feel free to leave a comment below!
Magistra would be proud.
I made these cookies for my 8 yr old son, as he was having a Roman day in his school, he dressed up as a Roman Gladiator and took the cookies in for his School Banquet. They were a success with all the children. I also kept some for myself for breakfast and was delighted, i want to make more!! Thankyou!!
I’m so glad you liked the recipe. I hope he continues to study Roman culture and share these cookies with his classmates!
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I found this, just Googling around, in a sudden impulse of curiosity. In Lindsey Davis’s Saturnalia she mentions sesame balls (Falco’s sister Junia makes horrible ones) and I wondered what they might be. I’m trying these!
Thanks for your comment, Pat! Ancient Roman cuisine is a big interest of mine, so I love making these cookies.
My Latin class is having a Roman Forum Day and my forum is a sweet shop. I have been searching for easy, authentic desserts for hours and this is perfect! Thanks so much!
I’m glad you found the recipe! They’re very easy to make and taste delicious. I hope you enjoy the cookies and have a great time at your Forum Day!
My 7 year old son’s Roman homework is due in tomorrow and your recipe has saved the day! He has completed the Plebeian and Patrician Cook book and it was just left to make something delicious. They have turned out fantastically well and are really delicious without being too sweet. Thank you for taking the time out to do something like this on your day off…thank goodness for people like you! xxx
excellent, my 8 year old son had to do something for roman day in school to earn extra points these are excellent very easy and tasted great,
thank you
I’m so glad you liked them. Thanks for your comment!
I used this for my sister she loved it.
Love these, i made them for History class once…made them again.
So glad you liked them! I did the same thing – I started making them for class, but now I just make them because they’re delicious!
Hello, I am actually doing a project for my latin class on Roman Food. I was searching for authentic food i could make, which ended up being harder to find then I thought. But I found this recipe, along with another one to make. My class loved it so much and I just want to thank you
Hi Bryce! I’m so glad you were able to use the cookie recipe! I first made them for my Latin class, but now I just make them as regular cookies because they’re so delicious. Thanks for your message and I hope you continue to be interested in Ancient Roman culture!