HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PIZZELLES FROM SCRATCH

LEARN HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PIZZELLES FROM SCRATCH WITH THIS HEIRLOOM ITALIAN RECIPE. LIGHT AND CRISPY, AN ICONIC DESSERT FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

MAKE-AHEAD CHRISTMAS COOKIE COLLABORATION!

For this post, I’ve teamed up with my friend Michelle from Barefoot In The Pines to share our favorite make-ahead holiday dessert recipes! Michelle is a fellow New Englander, and she’s an incredible and creative cook. Be sure to read through to the end of the post to see what amazing make-ahead recipe she is sharing over on her blog.

WHAT ARE PIZZELLES?

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Pizzelles are light, Italian cookies that are much like eating a thin, crispy waffle. My family traditionally enjoys homemade pizzelles made from scratch every Christmas, as my grandmother makes them by hand.

The batter is made just like any other batter, but it is the baking of the Pizzelles that is an art. Each Pizzelle is cooked individually, so the process can be rather time consuming. But, it’s all worth it!

My grandmother learned how to make pizzelles from her mother. Grandma tells a story about growing up in her home, each child had a cast iron pizzelle iron with their initial in it. Each child helped to make pizzelles, one at a time! She recalls how darn heavy that cast iron pizzelle iron was and laughs.

This year, my Grandmother taught me how to make Pizzelles from scratch and passed the holiday baking tradition down to me. To learn more about our other homemade holiday traditions, check out this post HERE.

MAKE-AHEAD HOLIDAY DESSERTS

With so many desserts to bake before the holidays, how do we do it all?! This is where make-ahead desserts come in handy. There are many different dessert recipes that can be stored in airtight containers, frozen or kept somewhere cool. This allows the baked goods to stay fresh (and gives you a break on cooking).

Our peanut butter blossoms are another great make-ahead holiday cookie. They can be stored in an airtight container for a week or two, or frozen! Just pop them onto the counter to thaw overnight (those kisses take a while to thaw).

Planning out what to bake each year is key to success. I’ve heard some folks even have a calendar of what to bake on what days. This is a great way to stay on track (and prevents us from staying up all night baking)!

HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE PIZZELLES FROM SCRATCH

Homemade Pizzelles are the perfect make-ahead dessert. It’s best to store them in a cool, dry and dark place. Pizzelles can last about one month when properly stored, although I have heard of folks storing and eating them after much more time. Great storage places are tins, sealed tupperware in a cupboard or pantry work great too!

This timeframe allows us to start holiday baking right after Thanksgiving! Allowing for so much more time to make our other favorite, make-ahead desserts such as Peanut Butter Blossoms and Magic Bars.

TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE HOMEMADE PIZZELLES FROM SCRATCH

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

This recipe makes about 60-65 pizzelles.

• Mixing bowl
• Stand Mixer (or hand mixer)
• Measuring cups
• Pizzelle maker
• Flour sifter (I personally like to use a strainer instead like this)
• Tbsp (or large spoon for dropping batter onto iron)
• Long fork for removing pizzelles from the iron

• Spray vegetable oil (to grease pizzelle maker)
• 6 eggs
• 2 tsp Anise extract
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1 C melted butter (cooled)
• 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar

HOW TO MAKE PIZZELLES FROM SCRATCH

Melt butter and set aside to allow it to cool before use in the batter.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar together. Next add vanilla, anise and melted butter.

Sift flour and baking powder into mixture, and mix on low until the batter becomes stiff enough to be dropped by a spoon.

If you have never made pizzelles before, the batter is surprisingly thick in consistency (and that’s normal). The pizzelle iron closes very tightly, so the thick batter will fill all of the crevices.

Once the batter is ready, it’s time to preheat the pizzelle maker. Most have a light on the front to let you know once it is up to temperature. Spray the pizzelle iron with vegetable oil before starting to make pizzelles. You will likely have to spray it a couple of times at the beginning of baking, and then should be pretty stick-free.

Now hunker down because this part takes a little bit of time.

Drop about 1/3-1/2 tbsp of batter into the center of the pizzelle shape and close the pizzelle maker. Each iron is different, so follow the instructions on the iron that you have. We are using an old VillaWare Pizzelle Baker, and it takes about 15 seconds before the pizzelles are done.

Once done, grab a fork and gently remove the pizzelles and lay them onto a flat surface. If they accidentally rip during transit, while still warm the pizzelles are still flexible. So it’s easy to press them together again.

Repeat until done. I had the pizzelles cooling on the table, and every time my two year old walked by he would slide one off and run away with it. So, if this is your method too, beware of disappearing pizzelles.

Once the pizzelles are cooled, any excess can be broken off of the sides.

Now it’s time to add the confectioner’s sugar over top! Pour confectioner’s sugar into a sifter and sprinkle over each side of each pizzelle. Now they are ready to store until Christmas (or eat now of course).

We stack our pizzelles about 10-12 high and wrap each stack in an airtight wrapper.

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD

MAKE-AHEAD CHRISTMAS COOKIE COLLAB

Michelle from Barefoot In the Pines is sharing her beautiful make-ahead recipe called “Flaky Cinnamon Pinwheels”. These cookies are made by her Mom every Christmas, and I’d bet they taste as amazing as they look.

Hop over to Michelle’s blog and check out the post by clicking HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by the Simply Rooted Farmhouse today to learn about. make-ahead Christmas baking!

Until next time!