Holiday baking is right around the corner, and these cookies should be added to your list! This Italian Ring Cookies (Ciambelline) are not overly sweet and a little bit crispy. They are perfect even for breakfast!
They happen to be made without butter or eggs (you're dairy free or vegan family and friends will be happy!). So wonderful to enjoy with hot cup of coffee or tea or even an afternoon pause. Ciambelline in Italian means small rings, or small ring cookies.
Typically they are made with red wine during this time of year. Since I wanted them to be more of a breakfast cookie, I wasn't looking for the hint of wine flavor and added orange juice instead. You could see the Italian wine cookies I make here.
In Roman recipes they could have fennel seeds in them. It is a dough that comes together in minutes. You could let the dough rest in the fridge for 20 minutes, or if you're pressed for time, you could start to bake with it right away. Either way, the consistency is just right!
HOW DO YOU MAKE ITALIAN RING COOKIES?
It is very easy to form the ring shapes.
1. Take out small sections of the dough a little bit of the time and roll them into cylinders about 5 inches long.
2. Roll each cylinder on a clean counter in sugar and then shape into a ring.
3. You could even make the rings from 3-inch long cylinders.
They really are that simple to make!!! I used turbinado sugar to roll them in. I just like how sparkly and pretty that sugar is. But feel free to use granulated sugar. Either way, they will turn out great!!
The last time I made these cookies, my mother-in-law Teresa was visiting from Italy and she was asking why my rings were so small. I ended up gathering all my rings and adding them back to the dough pile. I started all over again making bigger rings. So really, it's up to you and if you like a smaller or larger ring.
Ciambelline-Italian Ring Cookies
Ingredients
- 2- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- turbinado sugar or granulated sugar-to roll the cookies in
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and
- cinnamon; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, orange juice and oil.
- Combine the wet ingredients with the flour mixture.
- Stir together until the dough comes together. The dough should be a little
- softer than a pasta frolla dough.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 20
- minutes.
- While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 350 F and line your baking
- sheets with parchment paper. I lined two as you want to leave some space
- between the cookies as they spread while they bake.
- Take out the dough from the refrigerator and put on a clean counter. Start
- to take out portions of the dough and roll them into cylinders about 5 inches
- long.
- Roll each cylinder in some sugar and form into a ring by bringing the ends
- together and pinching them softly. Place each ring on the tray.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Jacque Hastert says
These cookies sound like a great addition to our holiday cookie platter.
Dee M says
These look so tasty! Can't wait to try some for myself
Taylor W. says
These look like they are cooked to perfection! So delicious!
Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
I cannot wait to make these for the holidays!
DomesticSuperhero.com says
I'm definitely going to make these for the holidays! I have several cookie exchanges to attend and these will be perfect! Thank you for the great recipe!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
These are on my must-make list! These are perfection!