Craving Christmas Cookies

I posted a quick Facebook status about this earlier today. I was surprised to see that it is something I have not blogged about.

Today, for whatever reason, I was thinking about one of the cookies that grandma used to make each Christmas. Among the many types of cookies she made were chocolate chip, oatmeal raising, sugar cookies, icebox cookies and the ones pictured about – pizzelles.

I am unsure if this was an Italian Christmas tradition or what, but she always made them for us around the holidays. In some Italian bakeries, and even at some grocery stores, you can find packages of pizzelles, but to me, they lack the “homemade” taste. I can tell these are mass produced and they just aren’t the same.

I believe I have grandma’s recipe at home for these. If not, my brother has it with her pizzelle maker. The pizzelle maker is literally an electric waffle iron, but for cookies.

I’m sure that my grandma’s maker is probably 30-40 years old, easily! If memory serves me right, the recipe was on the box, or maybe in the instructions. I did a brief search online before writing this blog and remember that some recipes were made with Anise extract, while others were made with vanilla extract. It has been so long since I had my grandma’s that I can’t recall what she used. She may have even used both.

I may have to eventually spend the $40-$50 and buy a pizzelle maker one day. This weekend I am going to pull out the recipe cards and see if I still have her recipe. Some of my friends on Facebook (and who are Italian) mentioned that they have their family recipes, so I may have to “borrow” one of theirs….

Here is one I found online:

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 8 tablespoons margarine, melted and slightly cooled
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons Anise extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions

• Cream the butter, margarine and sugar together. Add the eggs and Anise and beat until the mixture is creamy.
• Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter and mix until blended. If the batter is too thick you can add a tablespoons of water, or a little flour if it’s too thin.
• Bake the Pizzelles according to the manufactures directions. Store in an airtight container.

MANGIA!!!!