Black Pepper Taralli Recipe (2024)

It's not an error, though I know it looks odd. Those flours are different in density so a cup of one weighs more than a cup of the other.

How can the correct measurement in grams for both the 1 1/2 cups semolina and 2 1/4 Italian 00 flour both be 250 grams?

Can I use something other than wine? There is a food allergy

Wonderful recipe! I found that the dough benefits from a couple hours in the refrigerator- helps hydrate the flour and makes it a little easier to handle. I also used weight for all ingredients. 15 grams of freshly ground pepper = muscular forearms!

How do we do this without a standing mixer ?

I assume the yeast is added before the wine?

You are right about the texture being a far cry from the packaged tooth breakers. Next time I will reduce the pepper by 1/2 and substitute fennel seed. And I will halve the recipe. Out of curiosity I weighed each bit of dough. At 8 grams, my yield was 102!

I'd use a sturdy spoon. The dough is too stiff for a hand mixer.

Absolutely delicious, may even increase the black pepper next time!

Followed recipe. Used semolina and cake cake flour. The resulting crackers were spicy, delicious & addictive. Next time may play around with spice and use caraway or fennel for a different taste. Also need to be careful adding the liquid. The dough became too wet and sticky. Will add more slowly next time & check for stickiness. Measured 8-10g bits and made 88 total. Am freezing half, look forward to seeing how those bake up. Will use this recipe for the next party we throw or attend.

I use water and it works fine

I'd try broth or even water if you can't use wine. Any liquid would probably work but you want something that won't overpower the other flavours.

How about a wooden spoon? Surely thousands upon thousands of cooks made do with those before standing mixers came along.

Because semolina is much heavier/denser than cake flour -- weighs the same but takes up less space.

I just made these and weighted each piece of dough to 8 grams, ended up with 110 Taralli.

Made these and they tasted great, but I'd love a video to better explain the shaping. Mine looked nothing like those uniformly adorable little curls, ranging instead from doughnut to beehive.The recipe also makes many more than stated if you follow the weight recommendations. Which is a happy surprise, but you still might want to update the recipe to reflect that.

Switch half the pepper for fennel. More flavor, less overwhelming pepper.

I made these with a combination of pepper and fennel seeds. While they tasted great, the fennel seeds made it almost impossible to roll. They kept breaking apart so they took forever to form. If I make them with fennel again, I’ll chop it rather finely or whiz it in my spice grinder. I also found the 8 gram size to be a bit small and difficult to work with so I’ll go a bit bigger next time. And there will be a next time.

instead of pepper used 2 t of toasted fennel seeds, added at time of dry ingredients. 9-10g dough was about a level tsp. would use less salt next time, about 2 -2.5 tsp salt. used Italian brands of 00 flour, semolina, yeast, EVOO and wine. baked some, and for comparison, boiled some then baked in air fryer tray for 30 mins 350 degrees. the boiled then baked came out crispy, but a little softer; baked were drier-no surprise! both good, not sure if boiled is worth effort.liked use of weights.

These are so delicious! I’ve made them at least a dozen times. I’ve subbed out some of the white flour for barley or whole wheat or other flours, depending on what I have on hand, and they were delicious. Your hand will be tired after grinding 15 grams of pepper! I’ll bet these would be delicious with other spices, like rosemary or cumin. But I like the pepper so much that I probably will never find out ;)

These were tasty but too salty with 1 Tablespoon of kosher salt. Would def cut that back. Also, made these bigger than recommended; made them each 20 grams and baked for an extra 5-10 min.

After making these and them not working out. I thought it was because I used cake flour and I put a little too much olive oil in it. But that’s not it. After a little research, I realized you have to boil them. I let mine sit in the refrigerator for two days and then I put the dough back in the mixer, made the forms, boiled them and baked them for 40 minutes, and they were fantastic. Crunchy on the outside soft and chewy on the inside.

I made the recipe weighing semolina and doppio zero flour. I wondered as I began rolling the individual taralli how busy Italian ladies with large families managed it. After a two hour distraction, I returned to find my room temperature dough had become nice and elastic. The tensile strength was just about right too. After I rolled a little I stretched it and it broke off about a 5” piece with tapered ends to fold over as instructed. It was much faster!

After making these and them not working out. I thought it was because I used cake flour and I put a little too much olive oil in it. But that’s not it. After a little research, I realized you have to boil them. I let mine sit in the refrigerator for two days and then I put the dough back in the mixer, made the forms, boiled them and baked them for 40 minutes, and they were fantastic. Crunchy on the outside soft and chewy on the inside.

I kind of messed these up. I didn’t have 00 flour so I used cake flour as suggested. It made them way too soft. Plus, they did not rise, my yeast must be dead. I cut the pepper by 5 grams and added 10 grams of slightly crushed fennel seeds. I also used sweet vermouth instead of wine because it’s what I had. The taste was so delicious but the texture is not good. I want to give them another try with the right flour and new yeast.

These are so darn good! I give them as gifts packed in a pretty glass jar, or a half pound coffee bean bag with a window. I love them with the black pepper but have substituted toasted fennel seeds, smoked paprika, or za'atar. All variations were delicious. Sometimes I split the dough in half or even thirds and flavor with something different.

Great input, everyone! I made a full batch with 00 Flour, Semolina, half wine/half vermouth for deeper flavor, robusto evoo (again for deeper flavor), then used 12g black pepper with 5g fennel. I let the dough rest/ferment for 90mins, and with 8g portions, I made 96 taralli. My shapes improved by rolling the dough in my palms (rather than in my fingers) with my hands just slightly criss-crossed. This created naturally thinner ends that could be overlapped for the perfect shape. Fun! Delicious!

Excellent. Made as directed except substituted dry vermouth for wine and didn’t add pepper. Split the dough in half and added one teaspoon fennel seeds to one half. Made 52 plain and 50 fennel taralli (by using 8 gram pieces). I let them sit while heating the oven but otherwise no rising or resting time. So, so good. Meditative to make and richer than store-bought.

EXCELLENT!!!! I made for stay-at-home pandemic snacks: I halved the recipe (weighed flour & used all purpose + 00); only 1 t of salt; used high-quality/strong-tasting olive oil, and mixed 1.5 t nigella seeds into half and 1.5 t ground fennel seeds into the other half. I failed to see "add half the wine" so dumped it all in at the beginning. Dough was very easy to work with. Baked in one oven at 375 on a rack and in the second at 350 convection on parchment; flipped them halfway: both great!

2 tsp salt