20 Days Of Christmas Cookies- Day 19

Pizzelle Cookie Recipe

Slithery snakes surround the history of the Pizzelle cookie. An ancient Italian cookie, in Italian, pizze means round, like pizza, and elle means flat. Just like me, round flat cookie! Pizzelle cookies are found in every single Italian bakery and home. It’s a staple cookie and, as you can imagine, has a rich history surrounded by celebration. 

The pizzelle cookie may just be the oldest of the Italian cookies. A cookie used to celebrate the elimination of snakes from a village overrun centuries ago. Once the snakes were cleared, the villagers made pizzelle cookies to celebrate their freedom. The tradition continues in that village today and is the origination of the Festival of Snakes. Pizzelle cookies are still exchanged, and the village streets are lined with them. Each year, snakes are caught from neighboring forests and wrapped around a saint statue, then paraded through the streets. Once the parade is over, the snakes are released back to the same forest to live peacefully until the next year. I will never look at pizzelle the same. 

Pizzelle cookies are made with a pizzelle iron, and you need one. Whether it be the traditional hot iron heated over coals or the more modern-day electric iron, it consists of decorative plates that imprint the batter with the design. The cookies are flexible when warm and usually are found flat some are molded into cannoli shells, bowls, and cones. They cool to a crisp, flavorful, light cookie. Today, whether they are bought prepackaged or made, they’re still a staple in every Italian household. 

 This pizzelle recipe is made with Anisette, but you can use any alcohol, flavored oil, or extract. Depending on what you use, the flavor will change. Pizzelle irons are relatively easy to find in Italian specialty stores. It is worth purchasing and making these cookies at home. They’re simple to make, and nothing tastes better than fresh pizzelle.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 egg room temperature 

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup of Avocado oil

1 tsp Anisette Liquor

 Directions

1. Preheat the pizzelle iron.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

3. Using a heavy-duty stand mixer and the whisk attachment, whip the eggs until they start to get thick and foamy.

4. Gradually add the sugar and whip until the mixture is pretty thick.

5. Add the Anisette and Avocado oil and mix well.

6. Gradually add the dry ingredients until well mixed. The batter will be soft and sticky.

7. Using your greased medium-sized cookie scoop, scoop the cookies onto the hot pizzelle iron.

8. Close the lid and cook following the manufacturer’s directions. Typically about 45 seconds.

9. Remove the cookies and either cool on a cooling grid or form into a mold and cool.

TIP

If you are going to mold the pizzelle into a bowl, cone, or cannoli shape, use the medium-sized cookie scoop. If you are leaving the pizzelle cookie flat, use the small-sized cookie scoop for a thinner cookie.