Pizzelle – An Italian Tradition
The Pizzelle is a classic Italian cookie originally from the the Abruzzo region of Italy. Pronounced “pit-zale”, this crisp flat cookie is often served at Christmas, Easter, weddings, and other special occasions. You only need a few basic ingredients (flour, sugar, eggs, butter/vegetable oil, baking powder, and anise extract) for this sweet treat. While anise flavoring is traditional, they are also made with vanilla, almond, lemon, orange, or even cocoa powder. We love to make a batch using the traditional anise flavor as well as a chocolate almond batch.
The Pizzelle Iron
These cookies get their beautiful patterns from the metal plates of a pizzelle iron. The electric iron bakes the pizzelle two at a time, which is similar to a waffle iron. Our family prefers to use the Palmer Pizzelle iron. After trying other models, we found the Palmer brand bakes the cookies quickly, with a beautiful pattern and deep groves. The deep grooves help to keep the pizzelle thin and crisp, which allows for that characteristic “snap”. Lots of folks have asked about this iron! It is not the nonstick one. If you order it from Palmer you can pay extra to have your family name or initials engraved. The Palmer Pizzelle Iron is also available on Amazon (affiliate link).
Traditions
My Italian grandmother, originally from the Abruzzo region of Italy, passed this special tradition along to my parents, who passed it along to us. It is truly a family affair on “Pizzelle Day”, with one person manning the iron and another moving the cookies cooling on racks into stacks as they harden. My adult daughter has her own Pizzelle iron, and makes them with her friends as well. She uses gluten-free replacement flour, and they are delicious!
Storage
Pizzelle stay fresh for quite a long time, which makes them perfect to tuck into a festive tin and give as gifts when visiting family and friends over the holidays. We make loads of Christmas Cookies each year, and these are always first on the list!
Pizzelle
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1½ cups sugar
- 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter or margarine, melted Can also use only butter/margerine. If using only butter/margerine use 2 sticks.
- ½ cup vegetable oil Can also use only oil. If using only oil use 1 cup.
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tsp anise extract Can also sub out vanilla, almond, lemon/orange extract, or a combination of these.
- 4-4½ cups flour sifted
Instructions
- Heat up your Pizzelle iron
- Beat eggs and sugar
- Add melted butter/margarine/oil and anise or other flavorings. Mix well. *Note – you will use 1 cup total of oil/margarine/butter. We prefer 1 stick (½ cup) melted butter and ½ cup vegetable oil.
- Sift flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients. Start with 4 cups of flour. Mix well. Your batter should be thicker than cake batter, but not quite as thick as traditional cookie batter. You may need to add the additional ½ cup of flour. Batter should be sticky.
- Set up everything you need to start making the pizzelles. You will want your batter bowl, 2 teaspoons (from your flatware, not measuring spoons), a plate to use as a spoon rest, and at least two large cooling racks.
- Spray your iron with a bit of nonstick spray or brush with vegetable oil. Depending on your iron, you should not need to do this very often. We do this only for the first batch of two pizzelles.
- Using 2 teaspoons, scoop a heaping spoonful of batter onto the iron for each pizzelle.
- Close the iron and bake the pizzelles. For our iron, this takes about 20 seconds. We know the pizzelles are done when the steam stops rising from the iron. You will need to test this out for your iron. It will differ for different irons. You don't want the pizzelles to be overcooked/brown. They should look like the photo above.
- Working quickly, open the iron when done and take the cookies off with a fork. Place them carefully on a cookie sheet to cool.
- Add the batter for the next two pizzelles to the iron. Close the iron and repeat the process. Continue until all cookies are baked.
- In order to make room for all the pizzelles to cool on the rack, stack them as they cool.
- This recipe makes approximately 6 dozen cookies. Store in ziplocks or sealed containers. Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar if you wish.
Notes
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