Pizzelles
If you are a fan of waffle-type cookies, you may already be familiar with pizzelles. I wasn't.
In this part of the country, there is a Scandinavian type of waffle cookie called Krumkake. You cook them on a special waffle iron and when they are hot, you burn your fingers trying to roll them onto a wooden form that makes them into little horn shapes. Our friend, Renee, has made it part of her Christmas tradition to come to our house and make dozens of krumkake with our kids. We love that tradition!
Krumkake are good. Pizzelles are better.
My painting teacher introduced me to them just before Christmas. She brought some to class and from the first bite, it was love. These are traditional Italian cookies flavored with anise. (You may not think you are a fan of anise, but it's really good in a cookie like this.)
In my culinary heart of hearts, I think I am Italian.
To make pizzelles, you must have a pizzelle iron. I ordered mine online from Amazon for $38.
You can flavor the cookies with lemon or vanilla extract, if you don't like anise. Better than that, no rolling is required, so your fingertips remain char-free.
Classic Pizzelles
(makes 36-40 pizzelles)
1 3/4 cups flour (I use 25% whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 Tblsp anise extract
Preheat the pizzelle press on heat setting #3.
Place flour and baking powder in a small bowl, stir to combine. Reserve.
Place eggs and sugar in a medium bowl and mix with a hand-mixer on medium speed for one minutes, until thickened. On low speed add the melted margarine and anise in a steady stream. Mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined about 15 seconds. Do not over mix.
Spray the press lightly with Pam cooking spray. (You only need to do this once, at the beginning of a batch.) Drop 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough onto the center of each cookie grid. (Use two spoons to do this, scrape the dough out of one with the other.)
Close the lid and lock. The red indicator light will come on. When it turns back to green, the cookies are ready. (They should be lightly golden brown. If the cookies are getting too dark, turn the heat setting down to #2.) Remove to a wire rack to cool.
In this part of the country, there is a Scandinavian type of waffle cookie called Krumkake. You cook them on a special waffle iron and when they are hot, you burn your fingers trying to roll them onto a wooden form that makes them into little horn shapes. Our friend, Renee, has made it part of her Christmas tradition to come to our house and make dozens of krumkake with our kids. We love that tradition!
Krumkake are good. Pizzelles are better.
My painting teacher introduced me to them just before Christmas. She brought some to class and from the first bite, it was love. These are traditional Italian cookies flavored with anise. (You may not think you are a fan of anise, but it's really good in a cookie like this.)
In my culinary heart of hearts, I think I am Italian.
To make pizzelles, you must have a pizzelle iron. I ordered mine online from Amazon for $38.
You can flavor the cookies with lemon or vanilla extract, if you don't like anise. Better than that, no rolling is required, so your fingertips remain char-free.
Classic Pizzelles
(makes 36-40 pizzelles)
1 3/4 cups flour (I use 25% whole wheat pastry flour)
2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 Tblsp anise extract
Preheat the pizzelle press on heat setting #3.
Place flour and baking powder in a small bowl, stir to combine. Reserve.
Place eggs and sugar in a medium bowl and mix with a hand-mixer on medium speed for one minutes, until thickened. On low speed add the melted margarine and anise in a steady stream. Mix until combined.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined about 15 seconds. Do not over mix.
Spray the press lightly with Pam cooking spray. (You only need to do this once, at the beginning of a batch.) Drop 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough onto the center of each cookie grid. (Use two spoons to do this, scrape the dough out of one with the other.)
Close the lid and lock. The red indicator light will come on. When it turns back to green, the cookies are ready. (They should be lightly golden brown. If the cookies are getting too dark, turn the heat setting down to #2.) Remove to a wire rack to cool.