The basic pizzelle recipe has undergone little change through the years. However, there are variations based on selection of cooking oils, including butter, margarine, vegetable oil or shortening, and of course many flavorings, including anise, vanilla, or almond extract. Even rum extracts and whisky are used by some in pizzelles. One thing is for sure -- Pizzelles are among our favorite cookies. Enjoy the following holiday cookie recipes any time of the year.

The fundamental ingredients of the pizzelle are eggs, flour, and sugar. The relative amount of these ingredients can be varied slighly to match your preferences of taste and texture.

Once all ingredients are fully blended, select and test the batter using a small teaspoon or a demi-tasse spoon that you plan to use for dispensing and dropping the batter onto the pizzelle patterns. Consistency of the batter will be stiff, but it should be adjusted until it drops off the spoon as a ribbon in two to three seconds. The spoon will retain some of the mix. If the mix seems too stiff, stir in one or two tablespoons of water and retest the flow from the spoon. If the mix seems too thin, blend into the mix a few tablespoons, or enough, flour to give the right consistency.

You can adjust slightly the amount of baking powder in any recipe. It is necessary to use just enough to ensure that the three pizzelles fill out completely during the baking cycle. More than that will do little for the texture and increase the likelihood that the thickness of the pizzelles will exceed the 3/16 inch designated thickness.

Commonly, pizzelle recipes use 3, 6, or 12 eggs. Most recipes start with 6 eggs, which will make about 150 pizzelles in the Pizzelle Pro®.

You can save time by using a packaged mix, such as the Chef'sChoice® Gourmet Pizzelle Mix, specially formulated for the Chef'sChoice® Pizzelle Pro®. On the other hand, there are many fine, "from scratch" recipes, such as the family recipe from Caterina Casola of Buffalo, New York, below. This recipe has been handed down more generations in Italy than her family can remember. Each year her delicious recipe has been used to produce thousands of pizzelles eagerly awaited by the family and a host of friends.

Caterina Casola's Family Recipe
Makes 150 pizzelles
6 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla or anise extract (pure)
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar

1. Beat the eggs until smooth. Add the oil and vanilla or anise extract. Onto the mixture, sift the flour and baking powder. Add the sugar and blend vigorously all of these dry ingredients into the egg mixture until smooth. The mixture will be sticky and stiff. Test by dropping the mixture from a small teaspoon or demi-tasse spoon. As needed, add a few tablespoons of water so that the mix drops conveniently as a ribbon in two to three seconds. If the mix is too thin, add a few tablespoons of flour.
2. Set the Color Control Dial of the Pizzelle Pro® to about 3 - 3 1/2 and bake using the red/green light cycle for timing. Alternatively, bake for approximately 45 seconds, open the lid briefly to examine the color, and bake longer as desired to create a darker/browner surface. The baking time can be shortened slightly by increasing the Color Control Dial reading about 1/2 unit.

More Pizzelle Recipes
Pizzelle History
PizzellePro® (product information)