Ciambelline al Vino Rosso: Italian Red Wine Cookies

MAKE THE RED WINE COOKIES Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two half sheet baking pans with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour. Make a well in the center and add the wine, olive oil, and liqueur, if using. Use a wooden spoon to combine until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead with your hands until the dough feels uniform, about 30 seconds.

Pinch off about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough and roll it out into a rope
5 to 6 inches in length and about 1/2 inch in width (it does not have to be exact). Shape into circles with the ends overlapping by about 1/2 inch. Pinch gently to seal the ends.

Dip the top half of your biscuits in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat and then place them on the prepared baking sheet—sugar side facing up—about 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 31 to 35 minutes, until nice and golden. (Note: Thicker ropes will take slightly longer to bake.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the pans.

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

CINNAMON-SUGAR TOPPING In a shallow bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp. of granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp. of ground cinnamon. Set aside.

SURE THING NOTESGive yourself some grace during the shaping process and don’t become too fixated on making each “rope” the exact same length and width. I just plop a school ruler on my counter as a way to eyeball the length as I go, but each one ends up slightly different. Also, the cinnamon topping is divisive. Some folks think the cinnamon overpowers the red wine flavor too much. I suggest you do a taste test by making some with a cinnamon-sugar and some just with sugar before making any hard decisions.