By: Melissa, Updated: Aug 31, 2024

Classic Italian Pizzelle (My Family Recipe)

Italian pizzelle are thin Italian waffle cookies that are crisp and flavored with anise. You only need a few ingredients and a pizzelle iron to make these delicious Italian cookies.

This pizzelle recipe makes a classic Italian pizzelle flavored with anise and it is lightly sweet and crisp. If you are not familiar with anise (or anise seed), it has a flavor of black licorice so you only use a little bit in this recipe.

I grew up eating these pizzelle cookies that my grandmother made at every family get-together and on holidays. These Italian cookies have so many great memories associated with them.

This is our family's recipe. We want you to make them a tradition in your home like we have in ours. Make them at Christmas time, the holidays, or anytime you want a delicious traditional Italian cookie.

Let me show you how easy it is to make these classic cookies at home.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour
Eggs. I use large eggs for this pizzelle recipe.
Sugar. Granulated sugar is perfect for this recipe.
Butter. This is a butter pizzelle recipe (as opposed to some recipes that use oil) so you will need unsalted butter.
Vanilla extract. The best quality you can find.
Anise extract (or anise oil)

Note: How to Measure The Anise for This Recipe

This pizzelle recipe is a classic pizzelle recipe that uses anise and a little vanilla. It is the recipe my Italian grandmother taught me to use and the one I use to this day.

If you are not careful when measuring anise, it can overpower your pizzelle. I learned this the hard way when I began using my grandmother's recipe card for this recipe and found out that she altered this one ingredient on it.

My grandmother felt you should be in the kitchen learning to cook, not using recipe cards. After much trial and error, I have found the perfect ratio of anise to use.

When adding the anise, pour the anise into the measuring spoon, making sure it is away from the batter then carefully let it drop into the pizzelle dough. This will ensure that the anise does not accidentally get over poured into the dough!

How to Make Classic Italian Pizzelle

Making these Italian pizzelle cookies could not be any easier. You are merely adding all of your ingredients to a large bowl and mixing it together.

Steps to making classic Italian pizzelle including: mixing the eggs, then adding anise and sugar and mixing together, then adding flour and melted butter butter and mixing well.

Mix wet ingredients: Mix the eggs, then add the anise extract and sugar and mix well. You do not add the butter yet!
Add Flour: Add the flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Add melted butter: Now add that melted butter and mix until combined.
Preheat the pizzelle iron: according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Steps to making classic Italian pizzelle including: mixing the batter until smooth, scooping a tablespoon of pizzelle batter onto a pizzelle iron and cooking. Then placing the pizzelle on a cooling rack to cool and dusting with powdered sugar before eating.

Make the pizzelle: you will want to scoop a good tablespoon full of dough onto your pizzelle iron and then close it, and cook for about 30 seconds to one minute. While every iron varies you will want to follow your manufacturer's instructions.
Cool: Once the cookies are ready, you want to gently scoop them off with a spatula and place them onto a cooling rack. They will be somewhat soft and pliable for a few seconds until they cool.
Dust with powdered sugar: This step is optional but it tastes amazing and makes for a beautiful presentation.

How long do you cook pizzelle

You can almost always tell when they are about ready when the steam slows down coming out of the pizzelle iron. When I start to see that steam slow down I will give a little peak by gently lifting the top of the pizzelle maker and seeing if the outside is a nice light golden color.

If you wondered how to make crisp pizzelle this is it. This cooling time is when they get nice and crispy so make sure to let them cool fully.

Italian cookies — I like to make a few cannoli shapes to fill later. I use the end of my tapered rolling pin to wrap the warm pizzelle around.

Recipe Tips

You will need a pizzelle iron for this recipe: To make these Italian cookies, you will need a special pizzelle iron, which is a lot like a waffle iron. If you have never seen one, it has grooves on it like a waffle iron but the grooves are more shallow.
Making Cannoli Shells: At the point that the pizzelle is just coming out of the hot iron, you can shape them into a mock cannoli or into ice cream cone shapes since they are pliable. Just make sure to have something cylindrical on hand so you are ready to make the shapes when you are making these. I like to use the end of my tapered rolling pin to make cannoli shapes.
Cleaning up the edges: The last step when making these cookies is cleaning up the edges after they have cooled. This is fun and part of the pizzelle tradition. As you can see from the picture above, they will go over the edge of the pattern a little on the pizzelle maker. Once they are fully cooled, you just gently snap the edges that go past and your pizzelle are all set! We nibble on these pieces as we go!
Add more anise if you like: If you like a strong anise flavor, add more to the recipe. I recommend up to 1 teaspoon.

Storing

Storing: These traditional Italian cookies are meant to be eaten right away or the same day you make them but you can store them in an airtight container or bag for up to a few days on the counter with good results.
Freezing: You can freeze these for enjoying at a later time. Just let them cool completely and then wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer-proof container in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, just remove them from the freezer and place them on the counter to come to room temperature.

Variations

You can make this recipe your own by switching up the flavors. You can make lemon, chocolate, or vanilla and omit the anise. You can even make a more modern style brown buttered vanilla pizzelle!

I have more details on how to do this in the recipe card below. No matter how you make these pizzelle, remember to enjoy the company you are with when you make them.

Faqs

When did pizzelle originate?

Pizzelle are actually thought to be one of the oldest cookies in the World and was created in Abruzzo, Italy back in the 8th century. When you make these wonderful Italian cookies, you are experiencing a wonderful old Italian tradition that dates back generations.

What does pizzelle mean?

Pizzelle in Italian basically means small rounds. It is the plural form of the word pizzella. One of these Italian cookies would be a pizzella and more than one is pizzelle. Pizze, the root word of pizzelle means round or flat and it is thought that this is the same root word that pizza comes from

Serving Ideas

These cookies are ideal for holiday gift-giving and sharing with friends and family. Here are some ideas on how to do that:

Italian Christmas Cookies Box: These Italian waffle cookies go really well with, Citrus Snowball Cookies, with Salted Shortbread, and Sugar Cookies.
Holiday Bake Sale: Make a whole table of delicious desserts for a bake sale. We love making classic carrot cake, with almond cake, and lemon squares and apple cake to go with these cookies.

Whenever you decide to make these traditional Italian waffle cookies, just lay them out on a plate after they have cooled and dust them with powdered sugar to enjoy. They are a treat for any occasion.

A stack of pizzelle with powdered sugar on top on a plate.

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