Put the flour, butter, sugar, eggs, grappa (or other liquor), white wine, lemon zest, Vanillina (or vanilla extract), baking powder and salt in a mixer with a dough hook and knead for a couple of minutes, till the dough looks smooth. It must feel soft and elastic when you touch it. If you do not have a mixer, you can knead all the ingredients by hand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Make a ball with the kneaded dough, dust it with flour, cover it with a clean tea towel and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Then knead it again with your hand for a couple of minutes and divide it into smaller balls. Roll each small ball into a very thin sheet (about 1 mm). I use a pasta machine to do it and I put the knob to “6” (which gives a very thin dough). If you don’t have a pasta machine, you can roll the dough with a rolling pin.

You will now have a long and thin rectangular sheet of dough. Using a cutter, cut it into smaller rectangles (about 8x13 cm) and cut two extra parallel lines inside each rectangle. This is the traditional shape of chiacchiere, but you can get a little bit more creative with the shapes... I often do!

Deep fry them in batches in hot vegetable oil. When they become golden brown, take them out with a slotted spoon and put them on a tray layered with absorbing kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.

Once cold, sprinkle generously with icing sugar and enjoy them... Buon Carnevale!