When he tasted my cantuccini, my co-worker Mauro said that he usually prefers ciambelline al vino, the typical cookies from his home-town Rome. I had never heard of those, but decided to make them and liked them. You can make them with either white wine or red wine. Although I have not tested this theory myself, I believe these cookies are very suitable to bake with children. Easy dough and an interesting shape. The alcohol will of course evaporate when they are baked.

On a side note: this morning I finally succeeded in booking a table at l’Astrance*** in Paris! I’ve been wanting to go there for years, but each time we were going to Paris they were already fully booked. This time I planned our trip a bit longer in advance, and made sure to call on the first day that reservations for October were accepted. Of course you can expect a full review in October.

Ingredients

For about 20 pieces (you could also make half)

500 grams (3 cups) pastry flour or Italian 00 flour

120 grams (1/2 cup) sugar

120 grams (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil

120 ml (1/2 cup) white or red wine

2 tsp ground aniseed

pinch of salt

granulated sugar for dipping

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Put the oil, wine, sugar, salt, and aniseed in a bowl.

Whisk to mix.

Add sieved flour.

Mix with a wooden spoon.

Keep mixing until the dough comes together. It needs to be slightly sticky. If it is too dry, add a bit of wine. If it is too sticky, add a bit of flour.

Take a piece of dough and roll it out (just like playing with playdough) to a size about the thickness of your finger and about twice as long. (I am assuming here that you will like bigger cookies if you have bigger hands. 😉

Press the ends together to close the ring.

Press down gently on a dish with sugar on one side.

Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, sugar side up.

Bake at 200C/400F until golden, about 20 minutes. Let them cool before storing in an airtight container.