Pizzelle

The DeMarco electric Pizzelle maker was invented in 1946 in Steubenville, Ohio.  My husbands grandmother  Dorothy Ann Taylor had one that the paper work says was still awaiting a patent.  She passed away 25 years ago and probably hadn't used this for about 5 years before that so when I decided to try it out I wasn't sure it would even heat up.  To my surprise it did, and  is now back in business.   Pizzelles are tradition and memories that made me want to try them, you can actually buy them fairly cheap now.  The history of Pizzelle comes from Abruzzo, Italy when they are made for celebrations.  They will even make irons with the family crest to imprint the cookie, that would be great to have.  Here is a good site for more info on that Pizzellecookies.com.  When making them it might be a good idea to have a helper the process moves pretty quick.  This is a way to share Nan's story, if I wanted them for a crowd I would probably purchase them.


Pizzelle

Ingredients:

1/2 c unsalted butter @ room temp
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp anise extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

Plug in Pizzelle maker and allow to preheat about 15 min. unless you have a modern one that has a thermostat light then go by that.

Meanwhile in a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until well blended.  Add in the eggs, anise, vanilla and beat well.  Then sift in flour, baking powder, salt and mix.

When maker is hot drop spoon full of batter onto hot Pizzelle maker, close top down and allow to cook.  You will have to do a few to see how fast yours cook, mine are done at 30 sec. but as you can see I'm dealing with a very old maker.  I think a lot of the new ones are non stick surfaces and the heat is better regulated.  My directions say to throw out the first 6 till the iron is working well, I threw out about 3-4 and they seemed to be coming out fine from there.  When you go to remove them from the maker mine stuck more to the top iron so I used 2 small spatulas to carefully remove it from the iron.  Let them cool they will crisp quickly and dust with powdered sugar.  This made about 12.

Other serving ideas:
Drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Substitute 1/4 c cocoa powdered for 1/4 c flour for chocolate Pizzelle.
Substitute different flavored extracts.
Add some lemon zest.

**You do need to be ready to move fast they cook quickly.