I modified this recipe from the one and only, Adriano Cortinisio, my teacher in baking. All the doughs that were manipulated by his big hands were perfect and his recipes were magnificent.
I modified it to get the same taste of the ciambelline from a Lazio company: that’s why I added the hazelnuts and increased the dose of the wine.
Many will wonder why hazelnuts, a fruit typically considered from northern Italy. Incorrect! In the province of Viterbo, super-delicious hazelnuts are grown that have nothing to envy to the northern ones if not a much-less developed marketing.
These wine donuts are a typical recipe anciently made for Christmas and now present throughout the year. They are delicious, easy to make, and also suitable for those who are intolerant to dairy products since they do not contain any food of animal origin.

Red wine donut

  • Preparation time: 40 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 130 gr or 4 ½ oz of red wine
  • 100 gr or 4 oz of rice oil
  • 100 gr or 4 oz of sugar
  • 300 gr or 12 oz of pastry flour
  • 100 gr or 4 oz of flour of toasted hazelnuts
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • Sugar for decoration
  1. Instructions
  2. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Toast in a hot oven at 250°F degrees for 15 minutes, turning them occasionally to give a uniform toasting. Then chop them finely in a food processor.
  3. In a bowl mix the wine, oil, sugar, and salt. Then add the flour, sugar, and hazelnuts. Finally, add the baking powder. The dough will be similar to a pastry.
  4. Take pieces of dough and with your hands form loaves of a couple of centimeters in diameter and very long. Cut the loaves in pieces long as a finger and turn them into donuts.
  5. Arrange the donuts on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
  6. Before baking, coat them all in granulated sugar.
  7. Bake at 350°F for about twenty-five minutes, the last ten minutes with the oven door slightly open.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The flour for this type of confection should be weak in protein, around 8% to 10%. This will ensure that you do not end up with a glutinous mess. For this same reason, the dough should be worked quickly.
  • The donuts will expand in the oven, so it will be better to make them small placed at a distance from each other.
  • Baking timing is indicative because each oven cooks differently.