Happy Holidays my friends! To wrap up this year’s 12 Days of Cookies I have an Italian holiday classic – Pizzelle. A crisp, waffle like cookie with a pretty pattern from a special iron. Yes you can take that butter cookie dough and, with a few simple additions, turn it into these wonderful crunchy wafers. It’s a Christmas miracle. This is one of those cookies that I tend skip at first in favor of flashier options but come back to and really enjoy. The crunchy texture and subtle flavors are always a welcome respite after rich meals and go fantastically well with that after dinner cup of coffee.
This one needs a particular piece of equipment, a pizzelle iron. There’s no real way around it. Electric irons are easiest though stovetop models are common too. Whichever version you have, you’ll need to experiment a little at the start to determine the right amount of batter and the ideal cooking time for that perfect shade of golden brown. I give a few guidelines to get started but will need to be adapted for what you have.
There are a few flavoring choices too. The base is vanilla but lemon and anise, the most traditional flavors, are options as well. To my surprise, the anise version is my favorite. I expected some licorice notes, which I quite enjoy, but found the flavor very subtle, almost more vanilla-y. It’s delicious. And here’s an amazing idea – if you have any caramel left from the Peanut Fudge Bars of Day 11, sandwich a little between two cookies for a sort of Italian stroopwafel. Magnificent!
I’m not making any promises but maybe next year, I’ll have 12 more ideas. We’ll see. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too. Enjoy!
12 Days of Cookies from years past:
Fruity: Jam Thumbprints, Jam Streusel Tarts, Raspberry Linzer Squares, Lemon Poppyseed Buttons, Orange Sesame Crisps, Cranberry Pistachio Coins, Almond Raspberry Strips, Orange Sandwich Cookies, Apricot Rosemary Shortbread, Coconut Lime Sticks, Bourbon Glazed Fruitcake Buttons, Lemon Cornmeal Biscotti, Blueberry Lime Buttons, Date Swirls
Nutty: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Tassies, Maple Black Walnut Cookies, PB&J Sandwich Cookies, Pecan Triangles,
Spiced: Cinnamon Sugar Pinwheels, Candied Ginger Spice Buttons, Cardamom Rose Coins, Brown Sugar Wafers with Lemon Lavender Glaze
Chocolate: Basic Chocolate Butter Cookie Dough, Mexican Chocolate Crinkles, Chocolate Cocoa Nib Wafers,Raspberry Chocolate Drops, Chocolate Hazelnut Buttons, Dark Mocha Sandwich Cookies, Espresso Crinkles, Cranberry Cocoa Nib Wafers, Chocolate Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Lebkuchen, Fudge Tarts, Chocolate Marzipan Drops, Chocolate Coconut Bullseyes, Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Almond Crescents, Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Bars: Rum Butter Bars, Peppermint Brownie Bars, Banana Walnut Bars, Chocolate Banana Petit Fours
Holiday Classics: Cream Cheese Wreaths, Classic Molasses Cookies, Peppermint Candy Canes, Andes Mint Chip Cookies, Holiday Mallomars
This year:
Basic Butter Cookie Dough for all recipes
Day 1: Sparkly Sugar Cookies
Day 2: Pecan Praline Bars
Day 3: Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies
Day 4: Butter Brickle Cookies
Day 5: Maple Glazed Spiced Sweet Potato Cookies
Day 6: Garam Masala Shortbread
Day 7: Magic Cookie Bars
Day 8: Rocky Road Bars
Day 9: Rum Raisin Squares
Day 10: Iced Coffee Cookies
Day 11: Peanut Fudge Bars
PIZZELLE
Base Butter Cookie Dough – recipe here
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, combine the room temperature base dough, sugar, salt, melted butter, egg white and vanilla. If doing a lemon or anise version, add those ingredients as well.
- Scrape the batter into a smaller bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight. Batter can be frozen up to 2 months.
- Preheat the pizzelle iron. When ready, spray or brush lightly with cooking oil. You’ll need to experiment with your iron to get the size and timing right but start with a ball of dough the size of ping pong ball, place in the center of the iron, close the lid and cook for 1 ½ minutes.
- Carefully remove from the iron with a small spatula, place on a wire rack to fully cool. The cookie will crisp as it cools. Continue with the remaining batter, adjusting the size and cook time as needed.
- Before serving, dust with powdered sugar.
- Tips: this dough doesn’t hold well refrigerated for more than a day or two. Make fresh for best results. If your dough is sticking, may sure to spray both sides of the pizzelle iron well with cooking spray and don’t peek during baking as that can split the cookie before it’s finished cooking. If your cookie sticks and leaves bits behind, clean off any baked on pieces/crumbs (toothpick, pastry brush), spray and try again.
STRESSCAKE 