These crunchy Addictive Italian Anise Taralli are, in my humble opinion, the ultimate snack food. Traditional Italian baking can sometimes be a little time-consuming, but on the positive side, the recipes are usually really simple and often a lot easier than you think. And it’s almost always better than any commercial product you can buy.
The whole process of making these taralli cookies begins by combining some yeast, water and sugar. While the yeast is doing its thing, combine the rest of the ingredients and place them in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Then it’s just a matter of adding the yeast mixture and letting your stand mixture “knead” the dough for about 10 minutes.
For this particular taralli recipe, I love to use my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. I keep mine on the lowest setting to prevent over-heating.
Alternatively, you can knead the dough the old-fashioned way, just like I did with my cavatelli recipe. The goal is to obtain a dough that is smooth and elastic.
Once the dough has been kneaded (manually or mechanically), place it in a clean, dry bowl and cover it loosely with plastic wrap.
You can also cover it with a clean tea towel.
Let it rest for at least an hour (I will usually prepare the dough and then “forget” about it for a couple of hours).
During this rest period, the gluten structure relaxes and the “rested” dough will be a lot easier to roll out.
I then place the dough ball on an un-floured wooden board, knead it a few times before separating the dough into quarters.
Then, cut each quarter into 16 pieces with my trusty dough scraper. I use a food scale to make sure that each piece of dough weighs approximately 25 grams.
Now it’s time to start rolling…take each 25-gram piece of dough and roll it into a rope anywhere 8-10 inches long and about ¼ inch in diameter, about the size of a pencil.
Join the two ends together to form an elongated ring and line them up on a wooden board. There is no need to flour your cutting board when you are rolling your taralli.
Feel free to adapt any sized ring shape when making these taralli; there is no right or wrong shape; it’s a matter of personal taste.
Like my fennel recipe, these taralli also need to take a dip in boiling water before they are baked. So once I have shaped about half of the dough into taralli, I bring a large pot of water to a simmer.
Carefully drop 3-4 taralli at a time (without crowding) in the boiling water. As soon as they rise to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a baking rack to air dry.
It only takes a few seconds for the taralli to rise to the top.
Once this step is complete, you are ready to bake your taralli.
I will usually place the taralli directly on the oven grates and bake them at 375 °F for approximately 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 °F for another 10-15 minutes.
The final product should be golden brown and crisp. If you prefer your taralli to have less of a crunch, start checking the texture after 15 minutes (of total baking time) and pull them out when you want.
More Italian anise recipes
Anise’s lovely scent and delicious taste make it perfect for baking tasty cookies. Here are some Italian cookie recipes I love that feature this remarkable spice.
- Anisette Sponge Cookies: Experience the delicious combination of a light, airy texture and the enticing flavor of anise in this copycat Stella D’oro recipe.
- Italian Anise Cookies: Discover the charm of these Italian Anise Cookies with their uniquely spongy interior perfect for dunking in your favorite beverage.
- Anise Biscotti: This nut-free Anise Biscotti recipe is uniquely baked in a loaf pan for a delightful twist! Intrigued? Join me as we explore the simplicity of making this delicious treat.
- Italian Wine Cookies: Are you looking for ways to use leftover wine? This recipe for traditional rustic-looking Ciambelline al Vino with a hint of anise is the perfect solution!
Recipe origin
A colleague of mine recently shared his mom’s recipe for this crunchy taralli recipe.
She is originally from the beautiful region of Calabria in Southern Italy, from the city of Cosenza.
My colleague tells me that his mom, along with her friends, will make these taralli as a fundraiser activity for their local church.
Since these women make thousands of these taralli, they use a sausage attachment to press the dough in long coils. Then it’s just a matter of cutting the dough and forming the rings.
Isn’t that just a genius idea!
As I have previously mentioned, there truly are so many variations of this simple Italian snack food. You can choose to add (or not add) yeast, water, eggs, wine, fennel, anise, rosemary, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes… there is so much room for creativity here.
I should also mention that taralli originate from lots of different regions in Italy, like Bari (taralli Baresi), Puglia (taralli Pugliese), Calabria (taralli Calabrese), Napoli (taralli napoletani), and so on. And, of course, each place has its take on taralli. I find it so interesting when a recipe is embraced and tweaked by so many families in so many places, and so my colleague’s taralli excites me!
Forget the bag of chips! The next time you feel like snacking, make sure you have some of these Italian taralli on hand.
THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.
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Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made this taralli recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Recipe
Crunchy Addictive Italian Anise Taralli
Ingredients
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 8 grams
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup water lukewarm
- 1 kg all-purpose flour approximately 7 cups
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon anise seed heaping
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 1 cup white wine
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water.
- Stir and let stand for 10 minutes (will get foamy).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the yeast mixture.
- With dough hook attachment knead for approximately 10 minutes until you have a soft, smooth elastic dough. Alternately, you can knead by hand.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and tea towel and allow dough to rest for at least 1 hour.
- Place the ball of dough on an un-floured wooden board.
- Knead the dough for about 1 minute.
- Separate the dough into quarters (cover the dough you are not using).
- Cut each quarter into 16 pieces. (each piece should weigh about 25 grams-almost 1 oz).
- Roll each 25 gram piece of dough into a rope approximately 8 inches long and ¼ inch in diameter (about the size of a pencil).
- Join the two ends together to form an elongated ring and line them up on a wooden board. (There is no need to flour your cutting board when you are rolling your taralli. Feel free to adapt any sized ring-shape when you are making these taralli; if you want thin crispy taralli, the diameter must be ¼ inch thick). Make sure that you press the ends firmly together.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, then reduce heat so that the water simmers.
- Plunge the taralli in boiling water; 3-4 at a time. Once they surface to the top, remove with slotted spoon. The boiling process (per batch) should take less than 15 seconds.
- Place on cooling rack to drain.
- Repeat process until all the taralli have been boiled.
- Place boiled taralli directly on oven grates or on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375° F for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 350° F for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. (Set oven rack in the center).
Notes
I prefer to use the more pronounced taste of olive oil in my taralli. Feel free to use a vegetable or canola oil. Please keep in mind that the nutritional information provided below is just a rough estimate and variations can occur depending on the specific ingredients used.
Nutrition
Ersilia De Marco
I have made these taralli several times. The recipe is the same as what my mother used to make. It is easy and the taralli are excellent.
Maria
How wonderful Ersilia! Thank you for sharing!
Sally
These were so easy to make! And they came out great! I used fennel and black pepper.
Maybe it will help someone to know that they don’t puff much while baking. I could have left all of them on my jumbo cooling rack for baking (I just stuck the whole rack in the oven), but I was afraid that they would grow in size, so I took half off and did another round of baking. Since the recipe doesn’t mention whether you can bake two racks at once, I didn’t want to risk that either.
Whatever… I am so pleased with the results. Thanks!
Maria
My pleasure Sally. Thanks for sharing. I have never tried to bake both racks at once. I will keep it in mind the next time I make these.
Jan
Do I have to boil these or can I just bake them?
Maria
Thanks for your interest Jan. I have always boiled them. I have never skipped this step when making this recipe for taralli.
Marlene Haigh
I use to make these with my grandmother. She used fennel and this recipe is spot on. I made this and just cooked and dozen and froze the rest of the dough. I just let the frozen dough raise overnight on the counter and was good to go the next day. Thanks
Maria
How wonderful Marlene! Thanks for taking the time to share.
Dora
We’re do I get black anise? My mother always used it. But can’t find anyone?
Marlene Haigh
Just like I remember. Thank you I made this recipe with fennel just like my Grandmother used to make. I would get up early and help her. Thanks for the wonderful memory.
Maria
My pleasure Marlene. Thanks for sharing. Food memories are the best!
Maria G
I know there are recipes for no boil Taralli, can your recipe be used without boiling? I follow and tried most of your recipes, they are great, very Italian. Thank you .
Maria
Thanks, Maria. I have always made these taralli with the boil method. Would love to hear about your results if you do decide to try this recipe without boiling.
Chantelle
So excited to try this recipe!! My Nonna & Nonno are from Calabria and they used to make these for me all the time, unfortunately no one can read their handwriting and so many things aren’t written down.
Definitely gonna try this and pass it on for generations to come!
Maria
How wonderful Chantelle! Enjoy!
Judith
Maria I love this recipe!!!
I’ve made it three times in a very short period of time, I’m addicted! Not only to the taralli but to the process.
I need advice on one issue: when I measure the flour by cups (not weight) they come out very different than if I weigh 142gm per cup. I like both very much but they’re different! The one type measured by cups is drier the other is more fragile. I also experiment with different types of olive oil.
Fantastic recipe!
Maria
Great comment Judith. The amount of flour used will definitely have an effect on the texture of the final product. Using a scale is usually the best way to measure flour. Thanks for stopping by, appreciate it.
william J maggiore
I lived in Fresno, California in the 1940’s…my mother used to make this recipe after Mrs Palumbo brought it from Mushcite, Italy at the turn of the century… there were also many Italian ladys that had the same recipe, and it was very famous…they used muscatel for the wine…basically, your recipe is the same except for the wine… I suspect these ladies used muscatel wine because it was very cheap to purchase, and Fresno was a wine producing area…I will name a few families for you that I can remember.. Joe Travato, Mr. Ficareli, Mr Maggiore, Joe DeLuca, Frank Ochinera, Mr. Gamber, Gene Peracchi, Pete Cassinerio, so many others, I can’t remember, but those torallis were a very big hit in those days… I got my mothers recipe and still make them… thank you… William Maggiore (age 84)
Maria
Thanks so much for taking the time to share William. There is a reason why taralli have stood the test of time! Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe.
Tom Grieco
William sounds like you lived on the westside. My dad grew up there Vito Grieco. There was 6 boys 2 girls. They had the store & saloon on Walnut & California . My mom also grew up on the westside Josephine Shempre. All of her cousins were Scambray’s. Both last names were spelled wrong. Can’t wait to make the tarallis
Lindsay Hannan
Mr. Maggiore,
I was shocked and warmed to read your comment. I was randomly looking to see if others knew of or had similar recipes for these “cookies”, as my grandfather called them. His family brought their recipe of Tarallis over from the “old country” when they immigrated from a small town called Bisceglie, Italy, to the US and settled in Fresno in the 20s. We call them “tadads” or “tadalles”. There was a clan of my grandfather’s family that lived on Whites Bridge Ave; our family name is Mongelli. There are still many Mongellis that live in Fresno. Sometimes connections are microscopic in a small world. We still make our family’s recipe every Christmas.
ND
Have you ever used natural yeast / wild yeast in this recipe?
If yes, should it be active or discard?
Maria
Thanks so much for your interest. Unfortunately, I have not tried. Perhaps another reader that had tried can help out. Thanks so much for stopping by.