Italian Chiacchiere Cookies
There's no Carnival in Italy without Chiacchiere! These pastry cookies are deep fried and coat in a mix of sugar and vanilla:
Servings: 30 cookies
Calories: 81kcal
Ingredients
- 250 g Flour
- 75 g White Wine vegan
- 25 g Vegan Butter or vegetable oil
- 25 g Soy Milk or any other plant milk
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Lemon zest
- 1 pinch Turmeric optional, for colour
- 1 pinch Sea Salt
- 700 g Vegetable Oil for frying - see notes for the bake version
...to coat...
- 200 g Icing Sugar
- 1 sachet Vanilla Powder or seeds from ½ pod
Instructions
- Make sure the butter, wine and plant milk are at room temperature before proceeding. You can "heat" them up for 30 seconds in the microwave at medium temperature (350-400W).
- In a large bowl add the flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the turmeric and the salt. Grate the zest of the lemon and mix the dry ingredients until well combined.
- Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture with a fork and start pouring all the wine, the milk and finally the butter, stirring well to combine them as you add.
- Work the dough until it comes together and no residues are left in the bowl. Allow to rest for 30 minutes covered with a cloth or flipping the bowl upside down on the work surface.
- Divide the dough into 4 portions and roll each piece with a rolling pin as thin as you can (2mm thick would be ideal). Alternatively, you can use a pasta maker and use the setting that rolls the dough to 2mm (mine is number 4).
- Use a pizza cutter to cut out stripes of dough around 1 x 3 or 4 centimeters.
- In a large pan or wok heat the vegetable oil to between 170 and 190°C (350 and 375 °F), or until by placing a wooden skewer, little bubbles start developing around it.
- Deep fry a few strips of dough at a time for a couple of minutes on each side, or until their colour turn to light golden brown. Drain on a cookie cooling rack coated in kitchen towel.
- Combine the icing sugar and the vanilla in a large bowl, then gently coat the fried Chiacchiere on both side and transfer on a serving plate.
- Chiacchiere can be enjoyed straight away or within one week. Store in a cookie tin box or on a bowl covered with foil to keep them crunchy.
Notes
For the oven-baked version
Follow the instructions up to step 6. Then:
- Bring to a boil 1 liter of water and parboil the Chiacchiere for a couple of minutes, or until they reach the surface of the water (as we have done in the recipe for taralli pugliesi).
- Drain the boiled dough on a clean kitchen cloth (do not use paper, as it will stick to them!) and transfer on a oven tray over parchment paper.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (390°F) for 15 minutes, flipping the cookies halfway.
Alternatively, you can also bake them in the air fryer 4 to 5 minutes on each side. - When still warm, coat the Chiacchiere in the sugar and vanilla mixture and enjoy!
Alternatively, you can also bake them in the air fryer 4 to 5 minutes on each side. - When still warm, coat the Chiacchiere in the sugar and vanilla mixture and enjoy!
Nutrition
Calories: 81kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Potassium: 17mg | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 36IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 6mg