by Ciambelline al Vino Italian Wine Cookies are traditional ring shaped tiny cookies. They’re somewhat rustic in appearance and studded with wine-soaked anise seeds. A subtle lemon scent permeates throughout this easy to make cookie.
If your new to this type of Italian cookie you’ll be glad to know that its really quite simple to make. Also, with just a few simple ingredients which you mostly likely already have on hand.
Its also a dairy free cookie which makes a wonderful option for those following a special diet.
These Italian wine cookies are customarily served as an after dinner treat alongside a glass of wine for dipping the cookies into. But they’re also quite wonderful served with any type of liquor that compliments the scent of the anise seeds. Such as Sambuca or even Ouzo if your so inclined. Hubby loves to dip his in grappa.
How to Shape Ciambelline al Vino, Italian Wine Cookies
This my friends is where the fun begins. You’ll so love the aroma while shaping these morsels.
Start off by cutting pieces of dough approximately the size of a walnut in its shell.
You won’t need extra flour for rolling. It actually impedes the process.
Roll out to an 8 inch long rope and pencil thin. At this point you can cut the 8 inch rope in half and simply shape into a ring. Much like these Ciambelle Cookies.
However, if you’re feeling adventurous you’ll want to follow the steps below after rolling it into an 8 inch long rope.
Bend the rope so that it rests parallel and start twisting the 2 strands while interloping them together.
Join the 2 ends together and pinch to secure the round cookies.
You’ll want to repeat this step with the remaining dough before dipping in the sugar.
You’re now ready to dip these pretty shaped cookies into the sugar. Turn them all over to coat while gently pressing them into the sugar.
They don’t take long to bake. In fact 15 minutes is all it took in my conventional mode oven. You’ll know they’re ready when they turn a soft golden hue. And. Oh my goodness. Those wonderful aromas!
They’re tender and crumbly, not overly sweet and extremely addictive! I dare you to eat just one!
Happy baking dear friends!
If you make this recipe remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!
Ciambelline al Vino Italian Wine Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon anise seeds
- 3 fluid ounces white wine (I used hubby's homemade wine)
- 3 fluid ounces extra virgin olive oil
- 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dipping the cookies into)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
Instructions
- Place the anise seeds and the white wine in a small bowl and allow to soak for one hour.
- Strain the anise seeds and reserve the white wine in the small bowl.
- Add in the extra virgin olive oil to the reserved white wine and whisk the 2 liquids well then set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and the strained anise seeds until well combined.
- Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the oil and wine mixture.
- Use a wooden spoon to work in as much of the flour as you can with the liquids until you get a soft dough.
- Transfer the dough with any bits of flour remaining in the bowl to a work surface and knead the dough until it all comes together in a ball, for about 2 or 3 minutes.
- Cover the dough with cling wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- When ready to shape the the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 2 cookie trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- To shape the cookies cut, off a piece of dough approximately the size of a walnut in its shell and roll it out to about 8 inches long and a 1/4 in diameter.
- Bend in half while keeping it parallel and twist in a rope by overlapping the cookie dough strands. (as seen in photo)
- Once roped together shape in a circle by bringing the ends together and pinch to secure and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Place about 2/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl.
- Dip the cookies one at a time in the sugar, turning to coat all over and return them to the prepared cookie sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 15 to 18 minutes.
- When ready they'll be pale golden in colour and firm to touch.
- Cool completely.
- Serve as an after dinner treat for dipping in wine or your favourite hot beverage.
These are beautiful! I’ll stick with port or vin santo. No grappa for me!!!
Mimi I’m totally with you on the port!!
I’ve been waiting for this recipe as I love the flavour of anise seeds. Wonderful recipe, I’m so intrigued that the cookies are dunked in wine… why hasn’t anyone ever told me about this before? I feel like I’ve been missing out on something very important.
Lol….I remember my grand mother dipping her bread in wine after Sunday dinner but these are way better! And sometimes all that’s needed to finish off a meal, is a little nibble of these crumbly cookies so definitely reserve some wine for these beauties! They’re gone in one sitting!!
What beautiful cookies! I can’t wait to give them a try!
Thanks Julie! Its just a tiny bit more hands on in twirling them but if pressed for time simply shape into a ring and enjoy! 🙂
These are so beautiful! Thanks for the detailed instructions. Pinning for Christmas time!
Thanks so much! They’re sure to please your guests and make a wonderful excuse to linger at the dinner table!
These cookies look and sound amazing! Can’t wait to add them to my Christmas cookie rotation. And try dipping them in wine. 🙂
Thanks Colleen! Dipping them in wine is a must try…white or red, it’s all good! My husband loves dipping them in his grappa but they’re wonderful nibbles on their own as well!😍
Yum~! I’ve had these delicious cookies a couple of times but was never able to get the hosts to reveal the recipe~ Thanks fore sharing this one!
Your most welcome! They’re quite yummy and disappear quickly….I could nibble on these all day long!
These sound so flavourful Marisa! Love that they are dairy free, and I love even more that they’re meant for dipping in wine!
As much as I love to nibble on these all day long they’re really all you need after an over indulgent meal and dipping in wine is a must Leanne😉
Lemon, anise and olive oil are always a winning flavor combination. I have some of the black anise seeds from Calabria which would be perfect in this recipe. The only problem I forsee is my lack of self control.
I’m sure the black anise seeds would definitely elevate the taste of these ciambellini…will have to look out for those at the Italian specialty store!
Bellissimo ! Grazie milla !
Thank you…glad you like them!
Is there a particular type of white wine that you would recommend to soak the anise in?
Hi Kathleen…any favourite white wine will do! I typically use whichever white wine I may have at the moment and for this recipe I used my husbands homemade Chardonnay!
Hi Marisa,
What is the purpose of letting the anise seeds to strain with the wine and then removing them ?
Would it be fine to add the lemon juice for better flavouring from the grated lemon ?
I am using unbleached organic flour which I find more nourishing.
Regards,
Alessandro
Hi Alessandro! By soaking the anise seeds in the white wine, this infuses the wine with the aromatic scent of the anise seeds. You can definitely add a splash of lemon juice if you like. These cookies are so addictive…enjoy!
I’m in the process of rolling out the dough and having a problem as it keeps slitting. Also I don’t think I’m going to get 30 cookies. Not sure what I did wrong. I followed recipe.
Vilma it sounds like you may have to work the dough a little more…more kneading is probably needed!
We brought these cookies home for out kids from our trip to Italy a few months ago and I found your recipe hoping to recreate them. They were just like the ones we bought only way better!
Mandi that’s wonderful to hear! We love them as well!
I could never get the dough to form. it was incredibly dry and near impossible to work with as shown.
Are the proportions correct with the liquid – total of 6 oz.?
thanks!
Mia, we probably measure our dry ingredients differently. I’ll rework it in grams soon.
Marisa — You mentioned revisiting the quantities in response to a baker who had difficulty with the dough coming together. I had the same problem. After several minutes of kneading, it was just not coming together. I added a little more wine/olive oil (probably less than a tablespoon total), and it improved a little, but that left the dough feeling a little greasy. It was very difficult to roll into 8″ pencil-thin logs as the dough kept splitting apart. My logs were probably double pencil sized and I ended up getting only 12 cookies. I would really appreciate it if you would check on the flour to liquid ratios — or include a weight measurement for the flour. The anise and lemon combination is wonderful, and I would really like to get this recipe to work for me. Thanks in advance
It probably needed just just a little more kneading. I’ll be making them soon and will add some additional notes if needed.