Aunt Edie’s Pizzelle

light and crispy treat

This is the recipe that’s launched a million Italian press cookies.  Typically pizzelle are flavored with anise, but, for whatever reason, our Aunt Edie used orange zest.  Play with them as garnish or layering pieces for all sorts of desserts.  You can even make them savory with this recipe for Basil-Infused Pizzelle.

cooking information

• Yield: 60+ Cookies
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes
• Cook Time: 45 Minutes

recipe ingredients

• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Zest of 1 Orange
• 1/2 Cup Butter, Melted
• 2 Cups Flour
• ¼ Teaspoon Salt

recipe instruction

1. Beat eggs slightly with a fork in a large mixing bowl.

2. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the sugar, vanilla, orange zest, and melted butter.

3. Finally, stir in the flour and salt. Preheat your pizzelle iron.

4. Using two spoons, drop about 1 tablespoon of dough onto the center of each iron, close and press the handles down as tightly as possible so that the cookies are very thin. Then, after a few seconds of holding it down, release and let the cookie finish cooking to give them their brownness. It’ll take between 30-60 seconds total for the cookie to cook.

5. To help remove the cookie from underneath the iron, just scrape underneath with a butter knife to loosen. Let the cookies cool on paper towels and store in tins.

cooking tips

• You need a pizzelle iron or press from this recipe. You can pick them up at all major kitchen supply shops, some Italian markets, or here at Shop CWC.
• The orange zest can be substituted with just ¼ cup of orange juice, 1 Tb of almond flavoring, or the more traditional anise flavoring.
• For fun presentation, while they are still hot, press into small muffin tins and create miniature bowls or roll them up to make homemade tiny ice cream cones.
• These cookies store for up to 1 month in an air-tight container. They make great presents but are amazingly fragile.