Sweet Anise Taralli

Sweet Anise Taralli are soft and chewy, lightly scented with anise flavored liqueur.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 1 15

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 45

Servings taralli

Calories 159kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

6 large eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup Anisette liqueur
½ cup vegetable oil
vegetable oil, for frying
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dredging

For simple syrup

½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
granulated sugar, optional for sprinkling

Instructions

In a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, Anisette, and oil. Mix well.
Gradually pour in the flour, stirring until it is well combined. Stir until the dough is smooth and elastic
Prepare a small bowl with about ½ cup of flour. Use a spoon or fork to scoop a piece of dough and scrape into the bowl of flour with a knife. Flip the dough over to lightly coat the opposite side with flour. Shake off excess flour.
On a clean, lightly floured surface, begin rolling the dough by applying light pressure with the palms of your hands. Roll into an approximate 1 cm thick rope of about 30 cm long.
Fold the rope in half, pinch both ends together and twist each end in the opposite direction. Form a circle by pinching both ends together to seal. Place on a prepared baking sheet covered with a tea towel. Repeat with remaining dough.
You can also make small doughnut whole shaped taralli by cutting 3 cm pieces of dough and rolling into small balls.
Slowly heat vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pot filled halfway with oil. When the oil is hot, fry 4-5 taralli at a time. Do not overcrowd the pot. When they float to the surface and have browned lightly, flip and brown the opposite side. This will take 3-4 minutes
Place in paper towel covered plate to soak up excess oil.
Prepare a simple syrup: Bring sugar and water to a boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Let cool.
Carefully dredge the fried taralli in the simple syrup and place on a serving platter. If desired, sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar.

Notes

If you can not find Anisette liqueur, you can use Anice or even Sambuca. These are all anise based liqueurs.
The dough will be very sticky. Remember to lightly flour the dough, your hands and your work surface before rolling otherwise it will tend to flatten instead of rolling.
You can also cut the dough into small pieces and roll into doughnut hole shaped taralli.
The fried taralli will keep for several days at room temperature in a well sealed container.
Alternately, you can freeze the final glazed taralli.
Please note that nutritional information is approximate and may vary depending on the size of your taralli and the amount of oil absorbed during frying.

Nutrition