Dad's Favorite Fennel Taralli are extremely addictive and very unusual as far as the texture is concerned. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.
Stir and let stand for 10 minutes (will get foamy).
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour and salt.
Add eggs and oil to yeast mixture. Mix to combine.
Add this liquid mixture to the flour and salt.
Add the fennel seeds.
With dough hook attachment knead for approximately 10 minutes until you have a soft, smooth elastic dough. Alternately, you can knead by hand.
Gather dough and place on a well floured wooden board in the shape of a log.
Cover with wrap and dishcloth and allow dough to rest until double in size(up to 2 hours) in a warm place.
Bring a large pot of water to boil.
With a very sharp knife, slice dough into 18 equal parts. (you can make them smaller if you want)
Roll each piece into a 6-8 inch rope, then form into a ring. Make sure that you press the ends firmly together.
Plunge the taralli in boiling water; 3-4 at a time. Once they surface to the top, turn them over in the water and continue to boil for 1 minute. The whole boiling process should take less than 2 minutes.
Remove with slotted spoon and place on cooling rack to drain.
Repeat process until all the taralli have been boiled.
Place boiled taralli directly on oven grates.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350° F for 45-60 minutes or until golden brown. (Set oven rack one below the center).
Notes
These taralli are excellent the day they are made. They can easily be frozen. Up to half of the all purpose flour can be replaced with whole wheat flour.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.