Pizzelles in the Tummy - Part 1

I like to tell people that I'm Italian...by marriage.

Justin grew up making and eating pizzelles.  Back in the day (hehehe), Justin would spend the Christmas holiday with his dad's family in St. Louis.  There, under the careful eye of his Italian grandmother, Justin would make me pizzelles and mail them to me in a great big Christmas tin.  My family is as Vietnamese as they come.  But EVERYONE loved the pizzelles and I would have to hoard the last few before my sister or mom could find them.  They are that good.

For those who don't know, pizzelles are thin, crisp disks of sweet deliciousness.  They're a traditional Italian wafer cookie made on something resembling a waffle iron.  The iron stamps this beautiful snowflake pattern on the cookie which can be cooled flat or rolled into cones or cannolis. 

So here is my pizzelle iron.  Chef's Choice 834 Pizzelle Pro Express Bake.


It is amazing.  If you ever want to buy one for yourself, I highly recommend this one by Chef's Choice.  It cooks two pizzelles to perfection in literally 30 seconds or less.  (I have used other irons that take almost a minute or more.)  It has a tight seal which produces even cookies every time.  And the latch mechanism to open and close the lid is the nicest and easiest I've ever used.

Here's the batter - SUPER easy to make.

Mix together eggs, flour, sugar, anise extract, baking powder.  Recipe at the bottom of this post.  The consistency of the batter is like a sticky cookie dough.  Heat up your pizzelle iron and then just drop heaping teaspoons of the batter onto the iron.

Close the lid and wait until they are cooked to you desired crispness.  For me on this pizzelle iron, it takes EXACTLY 30 seconds to cook.

 
Then cool the cookies on dish towels until completely cool and crisp.

They are a favorite in our home and I think Charlotte has started to take a liking to them too.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I'll show you the super easy and cute treat bags I made for these delicious cookies.  

PIZZELLES

Adapted from Grandma Smith's family recipe.

Ingredients

6 eggs

3 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. cooled melted unsalted butter (Grandma Smith uses melted margarine)

1 tsp. baking powder (for a less crispy cookie, you can add up to 4 tsp. baking powder)

2 tbsp. anise extract (you can substitute other extracts like vanilla or lemon)

Directions

Preheat pizzelle iron.  Beat eggs and sugar.  Add cooled melted butter and extract and mix to combine.  Sift flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture.  Mix until dough forms into a stick batter.  

Drop heaping teaspoons of batter onto pizeelle iron.  Cook until cookies are a rich golden color (time depends on machine).  Cool on dish towels and store in air-tight container or freezer.  

Makes approximately five dozen cookies.