You must have a pizzelle iron to make these wafer thin cookies. My pizzelle iron is the single cookie iron that you break into 4 triangles.
Awesome recipe! Thank you Ed, I lost my recipe. I substituted vanilla for the anise. I find my younger children like it better. It's yummy either way!
Read MoreIf I made these again I would cut the anise by 1/2. The amount of anise was pretty strong.
Read MoreAwesome recipe! Thank you Ed, I lost my recipe. I substituted vanilla for the anise. I find my younger children like it better. It's yummy either way!
The definitive pizzelle. I have a hand iron so I cannot speak for those with electric ones, but these are the best I have made in 30 years of italian baking. An option for "purists"; oil of anise can be substituted for anise flavoring...itlends a marvelous flavor but watch out because you only need about half as much [taste and add carefully, if you like instead of anise flavoring]. thanks for a great recipe
Great recipe, just huge. And I think I need a nicer pizzelle iron after this...mine just doesn't imprint as nicely as the ones in the picture! Make sure you have enough anise extract - 1 oz. is only 2 1/2 Tbsp., so you need two small bottles of it if you make the entire recipe. Another thing - if you have a small pizzelle maker like mine, cut the recipe in half. I ended up tossing some of my batter, because I just would never eat that many. I probably made about 80 or 100, and could have made 50 more.
Yum, for chocolate add 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Oh and the cookies freeze well
This is a cookie that you either love or hate (depending on how you feel about the licorice flavor). I grew up with these as both my mother and grandmother make them every holiday season and they are hands down my favorite cookie. Definitely use the anise oil though instead of the extract (use half the amt called for), it gives much more of a true flavor.
These are good. Did anyone else realize that Pizzelles I, II, and III are just different size batches of the same recipe?
This recipe has become a family favorite in my household. I've been using it for a couple years, and have changed the recipe at times, but always come back to the original. I love these cookies! I hadn't had them since I was a kid until I found this recipe. This recipe makes a huge batch! I must have a smaller iron than Ed because I ended up with 100 cookies the size of CDs.
The batter was easy to make and was not too sweet. I would have liked more anise flavor. Next time I will add anise seeds to the batter. Ed thank you for sharing.
My mom has been looking for this recipe forever and she loves them. Great suggestion is to put a little bit of jelly on top.
I have a wonderful tip...Anise is so very expensive, especially at holiday-time. I go to the local health food store and in the spice section, purchase anise seed for a fraction of the cost. I then grind the anise seed in a small coffee bean grinder and it gives the best anise flavor, even better than the expensive flavoring!!!
For whomever wanted to know if these pizzelles are supposed to be crisp or soft - they are supposed to be crisp but tender. I consider ice cream cones and fortune cookies crisp but hard, if you know what I mean. When you bite into a good pizzelle, they just crumble in your mouth and melt into sweet, tasty goodness. This recipe is great and is the exact recipe that came with my mom's pizzelle iron 40 years ago. It sure has stood the test of time!
I've always loved Pizzelles. My aunt informs me that she doesn't use baking powder as these are supposed to be thin and crispy, baking powder causes them to become "puffy".
The recipe my grandmother gave me makes over 200 cookies...everytime I'd try to cut it in half the cookies were "off" a bit. After a lot of research, I tried this recipe (most similar to hers but the amount -resulting in approx 60 cookies)...and the pizzelles turned out PERFECT...just like hers!! Thx!
Great receipe~ Followed exact and was sooo easy and good. Thank you for simplifing a delicious cookie :)
Fantastic recipe! Just like my Grandma's! It makes areally huge batch though ... Next time I will cut it in half.
This recipe is excellent. My first pizelles came out near perfect! I say "near" because the difficulty for me came in mastering the use of my new pizelle maker. Pizelles are delicious right off the maker. I would only suggest using some anise seed in addition to the extract as to my taste, the extract doesn't carry nearly the full flavor or the whole seeds.
Just like my grandmother's recipe. These are a family favorite, although we substitute almond extract for anise.
I have used this family recipe for years. While still hot, they can be shaped into a cone and later filled with ice cream or your favorite filling. Anise extract is not that expensive if you go to Walmarts. If you can find anise oil, that is even more potent and you use less.
Great!! I used salted butter, also added 1 TB lemon ext, 1 TB orange ext, a splash of butter pecan ext, 3/4 C. finely ground pecans,. Mixed till very smooth with my kitchen aid mixer.....place in fridge till nicely chilled.Let cool completely without stacking too much so they crisp up nicely. Very light, flavorful, and crisp. I will use this recipe from now on!!!
Forgive my ignorance I had never heard of them before moving to PA a few years ago and the only ones I have tasted, sorry I haven't made the recipe yet, were store bought ones and they were soft. I thought by looking at them they would be the texture of waffles cones or fortune cookies but they weren't. I like the Anise flavor I just didn't care for the soft texture.
Melted the butter. Took the recipe down to one-forth of the servings and it still made a ton! They are delicious! (my first time making pizelles!)
Very simple recipe. I've been looking for one that makes them more on the crisp side rather than the soft and this is perfect. I cut the recipe down to 10 servings rather than 30. I made about 40 pizzelles with it so that was plenty for me. I used vanilla because I didn't have any anise on hand. Actually used it for smores so it can be a great sandwich cookie but you must be careful as they can be brittle when putting together.
My 1st time ever making these and it was perfect. Based on reviews I changed the following Used butter instead of Margarine. Sifted flour, Used Vanilla extract instead of Anise. I made these for a cookie swap. 4 with powder sugar, 4 I dipped in chocolate with crushed almonds, 4 with drizzed chocolate with sprinkles.
These always turn out great; I usually halve or quarter the recipe so I am not swimming in pizzelles!
Followed recipe exactly, but I added steps 3, 4, and 5. 1. Mix ingredients as described in recipe 2. Cook on pizzelle maker as described in recipe 3-42 sec Here are the NEW steps 3. Gently pull off w non-stick tongs 4. Cool on wire rack 1-2 hours. (Cool to touch is NOT enough. Give them a couple of hours to settle and release moisture.) 5. Store in air-tight box lined w parchment or wax paper.
Delicious! Wonderfully light! I used butter instead of margarine and used only 3 TBS of anise extract instead of 4 but added 1 TBS of vanilla extract.
I really love these. A nice little Italian lady I knew gave these to us every Christmas. Nice finishing touch is to dust the tops with convectioner’s sugar. .
Excellent recipe. A smaller version of my Grandmothers. She had 10 children so she needed a LOT of Pizzelles. As noted you need to SIFT the dry ingredients. Grandma used butter so I did too. Some of the siblings remember her using lard. Anyway, enough with the family history, 38 seconds in the iron (thank you iPad) by rounded teaspoon. 5-1/2 dozen perfectly cooked, crispy.. well except for the two that were test cooked at a minute, they were a touch brown but edible.
Everyone loved these! Ended up making about 60 dozen over Chrismas. Only thing I changed was used butter instead of margarine.
I have made this same recipe for many years. Mine always come out very crispy. If yours don't crisp up, maybe your iron is defective?
They turned out great! I did substitute vanilla for the anise, since my younger kids prefer that. Note to self, cut the recipe down unless I really need 12 dozen + to be made. My neighbors have been happy to take some extras off my hands.
If I made these again I would cut the anise by 1/2. The amount of anise was pretty strong.
Easy to put together and I switched to vanilla for my mom and it tasted good. Thanks again
Love,love,love these pizzelles! Used butter instead of margarine because that is what I had on hand. I always use the anise oil instead of extract in my Italian cookies. Perfect!!
We like pizzelles crisp—omit most, if not all of the baking powder. Cook rapidly.
Definitely would make these again. I prefer almond, though, so substituted almond for anise extract. Yum! Makes a party’s worth of pizzelle!
Yikes!!! I goofed up the amount of lemon and orange oil in my comment. I use two bottles of lemon oil and two of orange oil. .125 fluid ounces is the amount on each bottle. Thanks!!!
Love this recipe the only thing I change is the flavoring. We usually use almond or vanilla flavor have also used lemon before. This recipe reminds me of the ones my grandmother use to make.
