Ciambelle al vino, Italian wine cookies

 Ciambelline al Vino/Wine and Anise Donuts

IG: @mangia.con.elena

Ciambelline al vino is a classic Italian dolci originating from the Lazio region. You would find them at almost every bakery and cafe/bar in Rome and surrounding cities and villages. They are made with simple ingredients of flour, olive oil, sugar, dry white wine and anise seeds. They  are a bit hard and crunchy on the outside which makes them perfect for dunking into wine as a dessert or into your coffee or espresso! As children we would dunk them into our caffe latte in the mornings or as a  mid afternoon snack dunked into milk! They make an appearance at every special Italian celebration and were always available in our house for pop in afternoon guests. My mother would freeze them in freezer bags and just pull them out as she needed them. There might have been a few times that she was disappointed because the bag sat empty in the freezer as we would sneak in and eat them!

Cominciamo!

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups of all purpose flour (measure out 4 cups and reserve the other cup-in case you require it)
• 1 cup white wine 
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup white granulated sugar 
• 1 1/2 tbsps of anise seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack in middle of oven.
2. Add 4 cups of the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
3. Add all other ingredients into the middle except the anise.
4. Using your hand begin to mix the ingredients into the flour. Keep mixing until it is all incorporated.
5. Knead the mixture until a dough begins to form. If it is too sticky and has not formed, then add flour a very little bit at a time.
6. Sprinkle in anise seeds a little at a time and work into the dough before adding the next bit. 
7. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
8. Take a small section of the dough and form a log about 4 inches long and about 3/4 inch thick. Form the log first in your hand and then roll out on your surface. The dough may fall apart a bit but that is okay. Just roll until it forms a smooth log.
9. Pinch the ends of the log together to form a donut.
10. Place on parchment allowing a little space in between.
11. Sprinkle the donuts lightly with sugar. A little goes a long way!
12. They take about 10-15 minutes in the oven. You will know they are done when the bottoms are a nice golden brown. 
13. Place on a wire rack to cool.
14. Put the coffee or espresso pot on and enjoy! But wait until they cool!!!

A mangia!

Fatto con amore, 

Elena💜