Amira's Koulourakia (Greek Sesame Biscuits)

Here is my version of these delicious biscuits.  I add grated orange zest for a nice change from the traditional biscuits.  The recipe below makes a large quantity, so you may prefer to half the recipe.

Ingredients

500g unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

2 teas vanilla essence

6 eggs

Zest of 1 large orange

6 cups plain flour

6 teas baking powder

½ teas ground cinnamon

Traditional optional topping:

1 egg

Sesame seeds

Method

1.                  Preheat oven at 180oC (170oC fan forced).

2.                  Cream butter and sugar until light, fluffy and creamy.

3.                  Beat eggs and add to butter mixture along with the vanilla essence and the orange zest.  Continue to beat until well combined.

4.                  Sift in dry ingredients and mix with a large wooden spoon.  Then mix by hand and knead dough until it all comes together smooth and non sticky.  If still sticky add more plain sifted flour.

5.                  Form small balls of dough the size of golf balls and roll out individually into long shape. 

6.                  Form the long shape into a twist and place on a baking pan lined with baking paper.   

7.                  Bake the biscuits at 180oC (170oC fan forced) for about 20 minutes or until cooked through and underside in brown.

8.                  Allow to cool on wire rack and then store in air tight container.

9.                  You can also do the following before baking these biscuits:  Brush the biscuits with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds before baking.