Pizzelle – Oh my!

My love affair with this cookie started a year or so ago when I bought this tin. I never really thought about making them.

The Original Carisbad Oblaten
The Original Carisbad Oblaten

We liked them so much that we hopped online and bought several tins. And we ate them all up. Of course, I saved the tins.

Then somewhere on the web I saw a pizzelle maker. It would make similar cookies, but just 4 inches wide. These are thin, crispy wafer-like cookies that can be eaten alone, topped with fruit or a spread, made into an ice cream sandwiches, or shaped into cones and filled.

Wouldn’t that be neat to make these special treats?  I bake biscotti for Christmas every year, but it would be nice to try something different. After debating for months, I broke down and bought this pizzelle maker.

pizzelle maker
Our pizzelle maker

Everything I read online said that the recipe that comes with the machine is a keeper. However, it suggested adding 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract.

So I mixed it all up in the mixer. It looked so yummy!

pizzelle dough in mixer
pizzelle dough in mixer

It only take 30 seconds or so to make two of these crispy delights. So here they are!

pizzelles
pizzelles

Aren’t they pretty? That design would look great on fabric or paper!

This recipe is real good, but I would cut back the sugar. They are a little too sweet for me. Hubby said they were perfect for his taste buds.

pizzelle
pizzelles

Then before we ate them all up, I froze some by placing a paper towel between each one, wrapping them in plastic, and then sliding them into a ziploc bag. I want to see how they will fare with baking them ahead of time and then thawing them out.

pizzelles ready for the freezer
A bag of pizzelles ready for the freezer

Of course, they are not as thin as the tin cookies, but they are delicious and not hard to make with this gadget. It does take a couple tries to get them to come out perfect or almost perfect.  In addition to tweaking the recipe (less sugar, whole grains, etc), I also see chocolate ones in our future.