Cookies the Italian way

I would have to say that I have more of a salt tooth than a sweet tooth. Normally, I would much prefer a bag of chips over a sugary dessert. I am embarrassed to admit that I “may or may not have” devoured almost an entire bag of chips in one sitting. However, I will often get the hankering for a sweet snack. In my opinion, the greatest dessert ever created is crème brulee, but I’m a little apprehensive about torching my food…so I’ll start off making desserts that require a little less fire-wielding experience. The recipe I tried this week...pizzelles! What are pizzelles, you ask? Well, that’s what my husband asked. They are Italian cookies that are similar in texture and taste to a waffle cone…not overly sweet, crispy, light, easy to make, plus they’re pretty and look fancy.

This recipe only calls for a few ingredients that you’ll probably already have on hand, but you’ll definitely need to have a pizzelle press to make these. I have been wanting to try to make these for a while now and found out that my mom happened to have an old one that she never used, so I got mine as a hand me down. It worked fine and I can’t complain because it was free, but the pizzelle iron didn’t create the ideal pattern and texture that I would have liked. However, that didn’t stop me from wolfing these things down like they were devoid of calories. Keep in mind that even though they may taste relatively healthy-ish, they do contain a stick of butter – that’s why they taste so good. I have had my eyes set on this one for a while, but I don’t really feel like it’s that practical to buy an appliance to make one thing (kind of like those quesadilla makers, which we actually have because it was a gift). However, after realizing just how easy pizzelles are to make, I may just use the rest of our credit card points to get a new pizzelle iron.

{ PIZZELLE COOKIES } (from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
    •    3 eggs
    •    3/4 cup white sugar
    •    1/2 cup butter, melted
    •    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    •    1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    •    2 teaspoons baking powder
 
Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and blend into the batter until smooth.
2. Heat the pizzelle iron, and brush with oil. Drop about one tablespoon of batter onto each circle on the iron. You may need to experiment with the amount of batter and baking time depending on the iron. Bake for 20 to 45 seconds, or until steam is no longer coming out of the iron. Carefully remove cookies from the iron. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
3. For chocolate pizzelles, add 1/4 cup cocoa sifted together with flour and baking powder, 1/4 cup more sugar and 1/4 teaspoon more baking powder. I find that for the chocolate mixture, the iron must be well oiled to start and then brush on more as needed.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 102 | Total Fat: 4.5g | Cholesterol: 37mg

Below is a free printable recipe card for your recipe file.