It's Christmas time, so it's time to make Pizzelles!
Today I literally dusted off my pizzelle makers. I have three. One is an inexpensive Salton, the others are a Villaware Quattro and a Toastmaster combo waffle/pizzelle machine. (Salton - black machine with two shapes, Villaware - rectangular machine with four small shapes, Toastmaster - square machine with four larger shapes).
I made one batter, and use the three machines. The results were delicious, but varied. The Salton made "potato chip" thin cookies. I didn't care for those. I did like the results of the Villaware and the Quattro. The pizzelle came out more like the pizzelles you would get at a bakery. They were crisp but still thick enough to have some texture. I made more from the Villaware machine because I liked the petite size.
In one of the photos, you will see I used a wooden gadget to make one of the pizzelles into a cone shape. You have to work fast, and I just barely made it. These cookies harden quickly.
Right after my Pizzelles were done, I had a surprise Christmas visit from some folks who had purchased a West Highland Terrier from me 15 years ago. Since that time, we've always kept in touch and they've continued owning Westies even though there dear Harley that they got from me has passed.
I was able to see their two beautiful Westies, Zoe and Harley II, and I was able to share my Pizzelles with them. They left me with a beautiful Westie calendar (featuring Zoe & Harley II), that I have come to look forward to receiving.
The lasagne is done, and the pizzelle machines are cooling. Below is the recipe for the Pizzelle cookies.
I usually double this recipe, but was simultaneously making my Christmas lasagne with my Mom, so a "three egg" batch is all I did.
You'll see a couple lasagna photos below. If you want the recipe, just ask.
After heating up your Pizzelle maker, lightly spray with vegetable spray - only once, you will not need to spray each time you make a cookie. Drop batter by kitchen tablespoon, or mini scoop in the center of each rosette,
close the machine tightly, set your timer for two minutes, and immediately remove pizzelles with a fork to a flat dish or cooling rack. If they look darker than you'd like, adjust your cooking time. Once they are cooled, you can store them in a zip bag or airtight container. When serving, you could dust with cocoa powder, or confectionery sugar.
I hope I've inspired you to try some of the recipes and gadgets these past few months,
and hope to share more with you this coming new year.
Cheryl
Basic Pizzelle Recipe
(not quite sure how many it makes, depends on your machine)
1 stick softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs (beaten in a separate bowl)
1 Tbsp. anisette extract (anise)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
A little less than 1/4 tsp. salt
Beat with a mixer or by hand butter and sugar, add beaten eggs, anisette.
Add the dry mixture of flour, baking powder and salt.
Mixture will be sticky.
We did have more of these, but they were eaten. :)
Toastermaster machine. Cone gadget.
Villaware Quattro. The darker cookies were left in longer.
A peek at the process of assembling our Christmas lasagna.
Completed lasagna, just need to add sauce to the top and bake on Christmas day.
Layers of goodness!
I'm not sure if Villaware's name has been changed, but this looks exactly like my machine:
The pizzelles look great! My paternal grandmother used to make these as well, but with a french twist...they ended up similar to crepe style/thin pancakes...softer and we would but powered sugar over them! Delicious!
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