Pizzelle Season

Do you have a favorite cookie during the Holidays?

Growing up my mom and I used to make Pizzelles together.  

Our traditional flavor was Anise.  Over the years I have found that most American palettes (mostly my husband) are not used to anise cookies, so I tweeked the recipe to make cinnamon cookies as well.

As a team Mom and I had no problem working the pizzelle press and trimming the extra (mmmm, snack).  

We had to keep track of how long the press was closed to the darkness we wanted, this became a bit harder when I got older and was making them on my own.  Drop in batter, look at timer, trim cookie if needed, rotate them on the cooling rack, keep an eye on timer for when the press needed to be opened, remove cookies, repeat.  

I was quite a task for one person, Until.... I found the Cuisinart pizzelle press.  This one has a cook setting like a toaster, and a light that goes between red and green.  Gree when I need to remove cookie and put in batter and Red to let it cook.... LOVE IT !!

It took a bit of balance but after a few batches I found the amount of batter to place on each side for the cookies without a bunch of extra to clean up.  I usually go a little shy and the cookies are smaller then perfect, but they all taste just as good and no waste.

 If you find a pizzelle press and add it to your cookie making experience, they usually come with a manual that includes the recipe for Anise cookies.  I usually use both anise extract and seeds, sometimes I double the anise in the manual recipe, but find what you like.

For Cinnamon, just replace the Anise as follows:

1 tsp Anise for 1 heaping Tbsp Cinnamon

I like to add a touch of nutmeg to the cinnamon recipe as well.

Other flavors are great to play with, just give it a try. One year I did banana nut pizzelles by using banana flavoring and finely diced walnuts.

Have a Tasty Holiday !!!!