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.
Taralli
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.
I will 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.
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.
And if you are new here, welcome! You may want to sign up for my weekly e-mail newsletter. You can unsubscribe any time you want.
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!
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
Ruben
My family heritage is also Calabria, and we have a slightly different recipe, with the lard and no wine, and the most important part is to find “fresh” anise seeds, which are hard to come by. In any case they are delicious either way.
Maria
Thanks Ruben. Great comment. There are so many wonderful variations for taralli, but nothing can compare to family recipes.
Sharon
What a great recipe! I made these this morning and the are delicious! Reminds me of when I was a child and my mom made them. Like your colleague, my family is also from the little town of Cosenza in southern Italy. I hope to go some day.
Maria
How wonderful Sharon! Thanks so much for sharing.
I hope you get the chance to visit ♥
Serena
Followed your recipe for the first time today and the whole family LOVES them! I used fennel instead of anise, and added dried chili flakes to half of the dough for my spicy lovin’ family. Thank you so much. This recipe is a keeper. A true labour of love.
Maria
How wonderful Serena! Thanks so much for sharing!
Judith
Hi Maria,
I love this recipe!
The last few batches I made with 00 flour. The results are phenomenal if you like and extreme crunch effect.
Some who’ve tasted both versions like the all purpose flour better.
I like both. I vary the olive oil and wine flavors depending on which one I want to drink while baking! : )
Thank you for so many great recipes! (I’m also a biscotti recipe fan!)
Maria
Hello fellow biscotti fan! SO nice to virtually meet you! Thank you so much for sharing your variations with all of us Judith! They sound wonderful!
judith
Maria,
I’m thinking of starting a taralli anonymous chapter! This recipe is too much to resist!
One question. When I use the all purpose flour some of the taralli collapse after boiling water bath. Any suggestions? I love the all purpose flour recipe, they come out light, crispy and shiny.
:)))
Judith
Maria
Count me in Judith!
Let me see if I can help… I will “think out loud”… perhaps something will resonate with you…
Did you notice if it happens always at the same time… say at the beginning, or at the end? Perhaps the level of water varies too much from start to finish… can you use a larger pot so that there is less of a variation? Is the water at a rolling boil? If it is perhaps try a slow simmer.. conversely if it is barely simmering try increasing the heat. Hope this helps 🙂
Randie Inman
I have made several different recipes and my taralli alwcome out wrinkled. They do not turn out smooth and shiny. Any ideas as what I am doing wrong. Thanks
Anna Maria Helewka
Hi Maria
I am going to make these today. My last attempt at making taralli (the bigger ones which you slice through the middle after boiling)were a disaster. I have one question, some of the recipes out there indicate that ‘true’ italian taralli do not have yeast? Any thoughts as to why ? My italian mom has passed and I am trying to recreate her recipe that was never written down?!!
Anna
Maria
Hope you like them Anna! Thanks for reaching out!
Ada Muccillo
Love taralli. Finally was able to make them today. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Maria
How wonderful Ada! Thank you!
Jo
My mother, first generation Italian American, would slice the tarelli after boiling them as you would a bagel but not all of the way through leaving them intact . Then bake them on the oven racks. They were always a challenge to get them to rise to about 2” high. She would make a thin lemon flavored icing. I thought they were the best.
Maria
Thanks for sharing Jo. Nothing can compare to family recipes, I absolutely agree.
I was once told by my friend’s mom that the secret to getting taralli to rise is controlling the temperature of the oven. I guess that is why it is so important to know your oven and make slight adjustments to the recipe to get the best possible results.
Thomas roggio
Just made a batch and the flavor was spot on but the texture was a little more soft and chewy then I remember how can I get a little more crunchiness
Maria
Thanks for your interest Thomas. As every oven heats up a little differently, perhaps you can leave them in the oven to bake a little longer… they will definitely get crispier. You might have to lower the heat a little so that they don’t overbake.
Maria
This recipe is spot on for the Calabrian Tarrali that my grandmother would make. She used either anise, fennel or black pepper and always boiled first for that glossy finish! My grandmother Maria was from Bisignano, a small mountain village just outside of Consenza! Not surprising that this recipe is so similar to hers. She shaped them in a circle and tied them in a knot before boiling.
Maria
Thanks so much for taking the time to share Maria!
Diane
I have made taralli since I was a young girl with my aunt and mom. My aunt’s recipe was a little of this and that, a handful of fennel or anise and once around with oil. It was always hit or miss, because it was not exact. This recipe is the best I have tried. I think I am on the fifth trial of different recipes. They came out delicious, light, perfectly browned and they have that nice shine. Thank you! Comfort food at it’s finest!
Maria
I am so thrilled to read this! I agree Diane, pure comfort food. Thanks so much for sharing.