Pizzelles: A Family Recipe and a Taste of Heritage

My first encounter with these fragrant, delicious snowflake cookies was when I was in third grade and a friend who had an Italian mother brought them to school and shared them with me. The memory of these delicate cookies has stayed with me my entire life. So after finding my birth family and learning that my nonna had a recipe for these seasonal treats, it should come as no surprise that the baker in me needed to make them straight away. They’re more complicated than your typical cookie, but only because you need more than flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. You need a pizzelle maker. And I wanted to be reasonably authentic since family and the internet had mentioned that ones made with nonstick surfaces or more modern brands just didn’t give the crispness that make these cookies so craveable.

My nonna used a manual tool that cooks one pizzelle at a time that you flip over a flame, but that sounded a bit too complicated! I was looking for a middle ground and eventually found the oldest electric version I could find on eBay. After a quick cleanup, I was in business. I have made dozens of pizzelles, and every time I make them (and eat them!), I feel a kinship to my Italian heritage.

I had unrealistic expectations this year as we were preparing to head out of San Francisco to begin our lives as full-time travelers. I thought it would be fun to bake one last batch of pizzelles for my family, but my capacity did not match up with my reality. I had hoped to find some in Italy while we’re here, but alas, what I am mostly finding instead are cookies filled with marzipan, and unfortunately, they are not satisfying my craving.

So this year, Christmas pizzelles may only be in my dreams, but they don’t have to be in yours. Here’s the easy recipe you can recreate for yourselves. I think the fragrant anise in these cookies is wonderful, but you can substitute vanilla if that flavor suits you better.

Pizzelles (half a batch)

3 whole eggs

1-3/4 c. flour (224 grams)

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter, melted & cooled

2 tsp. baking powder

1 T. anise extract (double if using ground anise seed)

Directions

Sift flour and baking powder; set aside. Beat eggs until fluffy; add sugars until smooth, add flavorings and cooled butter. Gradually fold flour mixture into wet ingredients.

Heat pizzelle iron hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle when it hits the iron. Brush butter or coconut oil lightly on iron. Using a 1 T. cookie scoop, put scoop of dough on the iron. It will spread out on its own. Bake about 30-45 seconds. Remove and cool on rack.

Can sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Yield: 30 cookies.