Sweet & Savory Taralli: Italian Cookies

My husband is reading the Godfather, so I am randomly getting questions about what X, Y, & Z Sicilian food is, one of which was  taralli.  

I flippantly explained that they were the plain-ish crunchy cookies that my Zia would make. . .  and then I looked it up.  I was correct, but I fell into a rabbit hole of regional cookies.  I also discovered that either my childhood memories were deceiving me, or my aunt's method of baking was not quite the traditional one.  I remember them being vaguely sweet; not American-cookie sweet, but I was definitely able to taste the white sugar in the mix.  I seem to remember red wine, like this one on the Food Network Site by David Rocco, and I don't remember them being boiled.  I am currently attempting to contact cousins and double-check this memory.

Apparently, the traditional method is to boil them before baking, flavor only with dry white wine--no sugar, etc, and one batch makes a rough ton of cookies.  Also, traditionally these are eaten by dunking them in a desert wine, I prefer coffee.

After much research, I settled on two different recipes & to 1/2 each one: a sweet lemony cookie & a savory version, flavored with anise seed.

 

These are usually made in the shape of a small loop.  I think the knot shape is more appealing, but that is a personal preference & not a traditional thing. 

Sweet

I have recently been gifted a huge bag of lemons, so I subbed lemons for the dry white wine, which the original recipe calls for.  The lemons are a much stronger taste, but I like that.  I think it works in a sweet cookie.  It also calls for dredging the cookies in sugar before baking.  I did this for 1/2 of them.  That 1/2 was much tastier, but it didn't become golden.  This recipe didn't call for boiling the cookies either, which resulted in a softer, more crumbly texture. 

Original recipe from My Little Italian Kitchen

Savory

For this one, I used 1/2 AP flour & 1/2 wheat flour--I think that's why it came out so dark.  I did flavor this one with dry white wine (I used Vermouth) and also with anise seeds.   It is very different in texture & flavor from the sweet version.  I because it is boiled, it's crunchy & pretzel-like &, even with the darker flour, it has a lovely golden color.

Original recipe from Allrecipes, Buckwheat Queen

Verdict

Both versions are delicious and very different, but I am digging on the savory version w/ anise.  I think it's the texture that I'm liking.   I'm pretty sure these can be flavored with whatever you like; I've seen recipes for caccio e peppe versions flavored with salt & pepper & Parmesan, but I think that next, I will give that red wine version a try. . . or maybe one flavored with orange. . . maybe orange and chili. . .