Delicious Traditional Italian Wine Cookies Recipe
What could be more delicious than combining wine and cookies in a traditional Italian recipe? Ciambelline al vino is an ancient recipe from the Roman countryside which utilizes simple ingredients combined with wine to produce a deliciously sweet, crunchy cookie laced with wine, traditionally served after dinner.
Ciambelline al vino are very simple to make with the basic ingredients of flour, extra virgin olive oil and sugar combined with red or white wine and shaped into ciambelline, little ring-shaped doughnuts, before being sprinkled with sugar and baked until hard. The ancient recipe originated in the wine-making area of the Lazio region where, in the local dialect, they are also known as ‘mbriachelle, or drunken cookies. This is because they are most often served after a meal and dunked in a glass of wine to soften the crunchy texture. However, they are also perfect to immerse in a cup of morning coffee or eat as a sweet snack.
We use the classic recipe from our family recipe book Il Talismano della Felicità to make our ciambelline but you may also find versions made with aniseed or fennel seeds to add a licorice flavor, or even nuts or chocolate. They can be made with either red or white wine according to your own personal preference.
Watch Foodie Sisters, Benedetta and Valeria, prepare these delicious traditional Italian wine cookies: Ciambelline al vino.
Ciambelline al Vino (makes 36)
500g flour
150g olive oil
100g sugar
150g wine (red or white)
Place the flour on a flat work surface and make a well in the center. Add the olive oil, sugar, and wine into the well. Gradually start to mix the ingredients, moving the flour into the liquid, then use your hands to knead everything together until it forms a dough which is not too hard or too soft. Form the dough into a ball, leave it to rest for a few minutes and then divide it into 4 or 5 pieces.
Take one piece at a time and roll it with your fingertips until you have a long sausage shape, about the width of your thumb. Cut the sausage into lengths of about 20cm each and form each one into a doughnut shape, closing the ends together tightly so that they do not open when baking. Continue with the rest of the pieces of dough until you have formed all of the doughnut shapes.
Lightly grease a baking tray with olive oil and line up the ciambelline in rows before sprinkling with sugar and cooking for around 20 minutes in a hot oven.
Buon appetito!
