Christmas Pizelle

My Italian grandfather always had licorice flavored candies of some description around, and every so often a batch of pretty pizelle cookies from the Italian bakery. Love 'em or hate'em, that's usually the case. And guess what? I love pizelle! Some people are turned off by the traditional anise (licorice) flavor, but I enjoy their light texture and that zingy flavor. Although they are a cookie, they're not terribly sweet, and compliment the Christmas sugar overload nicely. They're delicious with coffee or hot chocolate too!

I was perusing the Crate and Barrel sale section and this CucinaPro pizelle maker jumped out*. I liked the idea of making my own fancy cookies, because I'm historically not great with baking cookies, so this will be foolproof, right?! Reviews told me this model is well-made, and easy to use. Tonight I tried it out with high hopes of becoming a pizelle making machine, maybe it will be a Christmas miracle...

 Spoiler Alert: They turned out perfectly! The CucinaPro is absurdly easy to use. 

I started out using this basic recipe from Unsophisticook. She explains that no one in her family likes anise, so she uses vanilla. It seems like you can substitute any other extract without changing the cookie; almond, and orange would also be nice.

This recipe made exactly 20 pizelle for me

3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl approximately 2 to 3 minutes, until they're fluffy and a light yellow color. I used the whisk attachment of my Cuisinart immersion blender and blended for 2 minutes.
2. Slowly drizzle in melted and cooled butter and add vanilla extract.
3. Using a spatula, fold in flour and baking powder just until incorporated into the wet ingredients. For some reason I assumed the dough would be the consistency of a pancake batter. However, it's more of a soft cookie dough.
4. Use two spoons to dollop about a tablespoon of dough onto the heated pizelle iron. Drop the dough in the middle lower portion. As you slowly press the iron closed the dough will push forward. I let them cook for 30 seconds after I closed the press. The non-stick machine, truly is non-stick! With a fork or spatula the pizelle slide right off of the iron.
5. Dough will most likely expand past the mold, but you can break those pieces off once they're cooled and have a feast of broken cookie bits.

After a press or two I figured out where exactly to drop the dough. Although I don't think these cookies are meant for perfection. In fact, the lacey pattern allows for some "rustic" imperfection. Sprinkle them with some powered sugar for special presentation. And if just the cookie isn't enough you can roll a few chocolate chips into the warm pizella, sort of like a sweet Italian tacquito... I also got these neat little metal cones that you roll the warm pizella on. When it dries you have a perfect cone awaiting to be filled with cream and chocolate. Yum.

*As I linked up the pizelle maker to Crate and Barrel I realized it's not there anymore, I guess that's why it was on sale. Fret not! You can still get it on Amazon.