Authentic Italian Pizzelle Cookies (Family Recipe)
This traditional Italian cookie has a delicate lacy pattern and buttery flavor that tastes exactly how family recipes should! Eat them alone or with ice cream, or use them to create cannoli!
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter (let cool to room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- vegetable oil or canola oil cooking spray
- Optional: 2 tablespoons anise or 1/2 cup anisette (substitute 1 1/3 tablespoons almond extract to make almond pizzelles or leave out entirely if you want to skip the anise flavor)
- Optional: powdered sugar
Instructions
- Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.
- Gradually add sugar, mixing until smooth.
- Stir in melted butter, anise (optional), and vanilla extract.
- Sift flour and baking powder into another large bowl. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, blending with a wooden spoon until smooth (dough will be sticky!)
- Heat pizzelle iron on medium heat (or if using an iron that lights, wait until light turns on). Open iron and scoop a tablespoon of batter into the center (or use a cookie scoop). Close iron, squeezing handles together.
- If iron is a flippable kind, wait until the batter sizzles and flip. If not, simply wait until cookie is golden brown, checking frequently (around 30 seconds). Turn frequently to ensure both sides are evenly cooked.
- Transfer cookie to wire cooling rack. Repeat for each cookie.
- Sprinkle a dusting of powdered sugar on the cooled cookies using the sifter.
Notes
- Don’t get frustrated if you don’t make “perfect pizzelles” — we hardly ever do. It may take some practice using the pizzelle press to figure out the correct amount of batter to use depending on the size you have, but they’ll taste just as delicious (and eating the evidence of all of those practice cookies is just part of the family tradition; I don’t make the rules).
- Alternative shapes: wrap pizzelle around a cannoli form or wooden dowel to form cannoli shells. Or drape (again, while still hot) on the back of a muffin tin to form a small bowl.
- For nut variations, add 1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans to the batter before cooking.
- For chocolate pizzelle: sift 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 additional teaspoon of baking powder with the flour and baking powder mixture before adding to the egg mixture (step 4).
Find it online: https://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/italian-pizzelle-cookies/