Pizzelles are an Italian tradition and baked with a special cookie iron, called, appropriately enough, a Pizzelle Iron (see note*, below). They are similar to waffles, but thinner and crisper and more cookie-ish. In Italy, they’re popular at Easter and Christmas and are often made for wedding celebrations.
Ingredients
3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seed or extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Directions
- Beat eggs and sugar. Add butter, vanilla, and anise. Sift flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Batter will be stiff enough to be dropped by spoon. Spoon onto pre-heated pizzelle iron (see note*, below) and bake until golden. Batter can be refrigerated to be used at a later time.
This video recipe below is a bit different from mine but it shows the process of making them on the iron. Her process is interesting because she separates the dough into 2 or three batches and flavors them all differently.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Photo by Steve Snodgrass under Creative Commons license.
- *Pizzelle irons are generally inexpensive can be purchased at most online cooking stores. While traditional pizzelle irons are held over the stove, it’s now very common to find electric pizzelle irons that work much the same as a waffle iron or panini grill. You can find some great used and vintage Pizzelle irons at Etsy or on eBay, often with unique patterns that you won’t find anywhere else.
Used and Vintage Pizzelle Irons (Etsy)
Used and Vintage Pizzelle Irons (eBay)
Electric Pizzelle Irons (Amazon)
Just be sure you’re getting a Pizzelle iron and not a krumkake iron or a rosette iron, because at times Etsy sellers aren’t entirely sure of the name of the thing! Krumkake are much thinner cookies than pizzelles, so you won’t get the same result.