Leftover wine from that party last eve? Don’t toss it – make these simple Italian cookies instead.  I first came to learn of these wonderful little cookies during a cooking class at Locanda Demetra in Montalcino.  Leftover wine from their dinner the night before was simply mixed with sugar, olive oil and flour to become these very tasty treats.  The proportion was super simple – 1 cup wine to 1 cup sugar to 1 cup olive oil. Add enough flour to form a dough. Boom. Done.  Never one to love overly-sweet desserts, for me this was the perfect ending to our meal – a rustic, humble cookie that I could dip into my glass of red wine, my espresso or my glass of Vin Santo!  

These crunchy, somewhat-hard ring-shaped cookies originally were made for those who traveled far from home as they could hold up for long trips and easily be softened when dunked into wine or water.  My kind of cookie indeed. The ingredients are simple pantry staples that make these really easy to pull together if you have wine leftover from the evening before – which in our house is a very common occurrence.