Italian Wine Walnut Cookies

Italian wine walnut cookies just make your feel like you’re in a rustic Tuscan kitchen! Simple to make. Healthy ingredients. And, oh, so fab!

Wine Biscuits

While these aren’t the typical American concept of ‘biscuit’, these Italian wine walnut cookies are actually sweet biscuit bites. 

Wine Cookies Italian

Wine cookies are so popular in Italy. And, they’re just so simple and easy to make. Plus, they’re absolutely delicious. 

Perfect after dinner with espresso, tea or coffee, these small biscuit bites can be utterly addictive. And, they top off any type of meal perfectly! 

Wine Cookies with Anise

Anise can be used as a flavoring agent in these cookies. If you like that sweet, aromatic taste that resembles licorice, then it’s perfect for the cookie. 

However, if you prefer something else, then there’s no problem swapping out flavoring agents. I’m doing mine with organic ground cinnamon. But, ground cardamom would be divine also. Another option is to use Chinese 5 Spice! It’s what makes my Dead Sea Granola so popular for flavor and taste! 

Italian Wine Cookies with Olive Oil

In my cookbook, Ally’s Kitchen: A Passport for Adventurous Palates, I have a beautiful recipe for Italian wine cookies with olive oil. Similar to this one, but still different enough to be a separate recipe, I first learned to make these cookies, Ciambelle di Magro, while visiting family in Italy! 

Italian Wine Biscuits

These small tender bites of gluten free deliciousness are wine biscuits that will keep for several days. 

Now, I love them splattered with a chocolate ganache, but that’s a totally optional topping. You could also do powdered sugar! 

Italian Wine Cookies Recipe

This cookie recipe is a combination new twist using the fabulous Ciambelle di Magro recipe from my cookbook. 

It’s gluten free. Full of walnutEEEEE flavor. And, the cookies are a delight with every bite. 

Wine Cookies

1. I’ve made this recipe with both Paleo flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1:to:1 GF flour.

Paleo flour: Cookies were a tad bit more dry.

Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour: Also slightly dry, but consistency more like regular flour.

2. These are not really sweet cookies. They’re more like cookie biscuits with a hint of sweetness.

3. They keep well for 4-5 days covered with plastic wrap or in an air tight container. They tend to become a little more moist also.

4. I’ve baked these cookies as ‘mounds’ and as more flattened cookies (like a peanut butter cookie with a criss cross pattern). I prefer the latter.

5. You can use either ground walnuts or ground almonds.

6. If you don’t want to use the wine, then they’re not really Italian Wine cookies, but you could try apple juice, ginger ale, or cranberry juice (which would give a slight pink hue). I’ve not done this, so I’d love to hear from you if you do swap wine for another liquid.

Cookies with Walnuts

I absolutely love love walnut cookies. And, there are two other recipes using ground walnuts that you must try. The first, Persian Walnut Cookies, oh, the aromas are so sweet when baking. And, the second, my Eastern European Honey Walnut Cookies. Kind of like bars, they’re perfect with a cappuccino! 

Walnut Cookies Italian

When baking these cookies, you have a couple of options for the ‘look’. 

I use a two-tablespoon spring scoop for dolloping on the dough. Sometimes I gently press down making the cookie a tad bit ‘flatter’. And, at other times, I’ve left in the ‘mound’ shape. 

There can be a slight adjustment in cooking time, 60-90 seconds only, because the ‘mounds’ have a thicker center. 

Healthy Walnut Cookies

For me, there’s a good bit of healthy in these cookies. 

You’ve got the ground walnuts. Then you’re using the coconut sugar which has a slightly lower glycemic index than white sugar. 

Another really good aspect of coconut sugar is that it does have some nutrients in it found in the coconut palm. But, for goodness sakes, don’t think of it as a “healthy” type of ingredient. It does add that sweet taste we crave and what we want in sweets and desserts. It can be a better option than regular white sugar. Bottom line is that sugar should be used in moderation. 

Healthy Gluten Free Cookies

These are those gluten free cookies that we all feel better about eating! 

What makes them a little healthier, say than a big old regular chocolate chip cookie, oatmeal cookie, etc. (and I love love all of these), is that we’re using the walnuts, olive oil and the coconut sugar. Cinnamon also is a great component of this cookie because cinnamon is one of the most delicious and healthiest spices on the planet! 

So short of swearing off sweets, which would be hard for any of us (is there a Sweets Anonymous?), the best thing we can do when we are making pastries, cakes, pies, donuts, cookies and all those things that just make life a little sweeter is to look for ways to weave in better ingredients. And, that’s the essence of these cookies! Not perfect. But, a little better health wise. 

Italian Wine Walnut Cookies

Yield: Makes: About 15 cookies

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup walnuts, ground
• 1 ½ cups flour, all-purpose
• 1 Tbl. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ cup + 2 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup + 2 Tbl. chardonnay wine
• Finishing sea salt, optional
• CHOCOLATE GANACH
• 1 cup chocolate pieces, 65% cacao
• ½ cup half and half + more to thin if the mixture is too thick

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, put the walnuts, flour, baking powder, salt coconut sugar and ground cinnamon. Blend well.
2. Make an open ‘well’ in the bottom of the dry mixture. Pour in the olive oil and wine. Gently blend in the dry ingredients mixing completely. Use a 1 ½ tablespoon spring scoop (add a tad of olive oil to it for easier release of batter). Scoop about fifteen cookies on to the cookie sheet.
3. Use a fork to gently press down the mounds a little to flatten the cookie. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 14 to 17 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack.
4. CHOCOLATE GANACHE: Put the chocolate chips and half and half in a 2-cup microwavable measure cup. Microwave on high for 60 seconds Remove and use a whisk to blend into a creamy melted chocolate mixture. Use the whisk to ‘splatter’ on the cooled cookies. Sprinkle with some finishing sea salt. If the chocolate is too thick, then add small amounts of half and half to thin somewhat making a better drizzle chocolate. Whisk and blend well.

Notes

1. I've made this recipe with both Paleo flour and Bob's Red Mill 1:to:1 GF flour.

Paleo flour: Cookies were a tad bit more dry.

Bob's Red Mill GF Flour: Also slightly dry, but consistency more like regular flour.

2. These are not really sweet cookies. They're more like cookie biscuits with a hint of sweetness.

3. They keep well for 2-3 days covered with plastic wrap or in an air tight container. They tend to become a little more moist also.

4. I've baked these cookies as 'mounds' and as more flattened cookies (like a peanut butter cookie with a criss cross pattern). I prefer the latter.

5. You can use either ground walnuts or ground almonds.

6. If you don't want to use the wine, then they're not really Italian Wine cookies, but you could try apple juice, ginger ale, or cranberry juice (which would give a slight pink hue). I've not done this, so I'd love to hear from you if you do swap wine for another liquid.

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