Amore for pizzelles: Variety of flavorings, styles available for sugary wafer baked in iron

By Lisa Abraham

Akron Beacon Journal

(MCT)

Today, the cookies have proliferated beyond Italian families, he said. "I grew up loving pizzelles and wanting to make them," said Dittoe, who is not Italian but ate the cookies as a child at the homes of Italian-American friends and neighbors.

Over the years, it became tradition to make pizzelles at times of festivals or holidays.

Paolucci doesn't wait for a holiday to make pizzelles — she keeps her electric iron handy and makes a batch whenever the spirit moves her, which is often when her son John comes to visit. "He likes to bake," she said.

Paolucci likes to have some on hand in case company stops by. They go well with a cup of coffee or tea, she said, and they'll keep indefinitely when stored in a metal can.

Paolucci flavors her pizzelles with orange extract and orange zest, but said orange juice can be used if extract isn't available. Her recipe calls for baking powder, which helps to make her cookies puffy and thick. For thinner, crisper pizzelles, omit the baking powder.

Paolucci said she used to make her pizzelles with traditional anise flavoring and tried the orange flavor for something different. Her family liked the orange so well she never went back to anise.

This is the time of year when the sale of pizzelles are brisk. Ninni's will bake and sell hundreds of the cookies between now and Christmas, he said.

But, Ninni said, based on the number of pizzelle irons he sells, making the cookies at home is as popular as ever. "Pizzelles are pretty popular," he said, "They're nothing too fancy, just basic flour, sugar, butter and whatever the flavoring is."

Paolucci said she first learned how to make pizzelles from her stepmother, using a traditional iron. Pizzelle makers are typically called irons, because the first ones were just that — irons that were forged by blacksmiths. They resembled a hobo pie maker, but the plates were flat for pressing out the cookies.

Through her time with both companies, McDaniel has amassed a wide body of knowledge about the history of pizzelle irons. Because the irons were made for specific customers, each one was customized and often would bear the family's crest or initials, she said. Many also were made as wedding gifts and included the couple's wedding date.

"They were handmade to your specifications. They could put almost anything on it. It was just limited by your creativity and your blacksmith's ability," McDaniel said.

The irons were placed in an open fire, or later over the burners of a gas stove, to bake the cookies. Stovetop irons are still available but are made of forged aluminum, not iron, McDaniel noted.

"People still want them. Every now and then we'll get a request for them," she said.

Like most bakers, Paolucci got an electric baker years ago. "When I bought mine, they were cheap. Now I understand they're very expensive," she said.

Dittoe said this is the time of year when sales of pizzelle irons are up as people get ready for the holidays.

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ORANGE PIZZELLES

3 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sifted, all-purpose, unbleached flour

2 tsp. baking powder

4 tsp. orange extract

Grated zest from 1 large or 2 small oranges

Beat eggs, add sugar and mix well. Add melted butter, orange extract and orange zest and combine. Sift together baking powder and flour. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and beat to combine.

Drop by spoonfuls on hot, greased pizzelle iron and bake until browned.

Makes several dozen cookies.

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NINNI'S PIZZELLES

3 cups sugar 1 lb. margarine, softened (4 sticks)

1 dozen eggs

10 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. anise seed

1 tsp. anise oil

Beat together sugar, eggs, margarine, anise oil and seeds with an electric mixer, scraping down bowl as you go.

Fold in flour a cup at a time.

Roll batter into small balls and place one in each center of heated pizzelle iron.

Close iron and cook until light brown and crisp. Cool completely before stacking.

Makes about 100 cookies.

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CAPPUCCINO PIZZELLES

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. ground coffee

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. coffee liqueur

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Mix eggs, sugar, butter, coffee, cinnamon, and coffee liqueur together with an electric mixer and beat well, scraping down sides of bowl as you go. Fold in flour.

Preheat pizzelle iron. Place a small amount of batter in the center of each pizzelle surface.

Close iron and cook until light brown and crisp. Cool completely before stacking.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

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BASIC PIZZELLE — THIN

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (or orange zest)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking powder

Melt butter and set aside. Beat eggs and sugar until light yellow and thick ribbons fall from the whisk, 2 to 3 minutes. Add melted butter, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat until blended.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, fold until just blended, add remaining flour and fold again until just incorporated.

Heat pizzelle iron. Place about 1 tablespoon of batter on grid, just behind the center of the pattern.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 60 seconds. Remove and cool on a rack. Repeat with remaining batter.

Makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies.

For chocolate pizzelles: Follow basic recipe. Omit the vanilla and lemon zest. Add 3 tablespoons cocoa and 3 tablespoons sugar.

For almond pizzelles: Follow basic recipe. Omit vanilla and lemon zest flavorings. Add 1 tablespoon almond extract or 2 tablespoons amaretto. Add 1 cup finely chopped or ground almonds to the batter.