Turdili – A honeyed, southern-Italian wine cookie (e108)

Buon giorno a tutti. In this episode, Nonna Mia, la nonna di tutti (everybody’s grandma), demonstrates Calabrian classic sweets called turdilli. These delicious holiday treats are often referred to as wine cookies.

In this easier version, a standing mixer is used, making it possible to whip up these delicious bundles with greater speed and less effort. This recipe yields about 50 turdili, so its volume and the use of the mixer make this version more practical. However, if you prefer to follow the traditional way, without the use of a mixer, please follow this link: https://youtu.be/hRxl4u5Q4hk.

Dry Ingredients:
– 2.5 cups of all-purpose flour (300 grams)
– 0.5 cups of sugar (100 grams)
– pinch of salt
– 1 tablespoon of baking powder (14 grams)

Wet Ingredients:
– 0.5 cup of olive oil (120 ml)
– 0.5 cup of Marsala, sweet vermouth or other wine of your choice (120 ml)
– 2 large eggs

– canola for frying the cookies
– 1 cup of honey for coating the cookies (240 ml)
– optional sprinkles or chopped nuts

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and give them a quick mix, then add in the wet ingredients. Using the dough hook and your standing mixer, blend the ingredients for about 2 minutes. A smooth dough ball will form. Pull the dough off the hook and place it on a lightly dusted board. Shape into a ball and then begin cutting into smaller portions. Roll the dough into ‘snake-like’ ropes about an inch (2.5 cm) thick. Then cut the ‘snakes’ into inch-long pieces. Lastly, using a fork, gnocchi board, or the back of a traditional basket, roll the pieces to create ridges. If you are familiar with making gnocchi, you will find this quite similar.

Bring a pot of canola oil (about 1-1.5 inches or 2.5 to 4 cm deep) to 350-370F (180-190C) and begin frying the turdili until golden brown. Remove the turdili and place them on paper towels, to help drain excess oil.

In the final step, bring a cup of honey, with a bit of water, to a boil. Roll in the cookies so that they are fully coated, and plate them. Optionally, you could add sprinkles on top, while the honey is very warm so they stick – it’s your choice. Our family prefers just honey but you could also add a chopped nut of choice if you’d like. In Italy, fig honey is commonly used however as it isn’t easily found in Canada, here in this demonstration, regular honey is used. Alternatively, you could leave them plain, or dust them with powdered sugar. They are truly delicious in all their various forms.

If of interest, Christmas tradition in Calabria sees families commonly make these 3 wonderful pastries:

Scalili https://youtu.be/vZuECMXSx8A,

Chianuille https://youtu.be/Rv91ijLuQog and

Turdili.

Buon appetito!

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