Pizzelles

Last weekend I finally broke out the pizzelle maker my mama bought me for Christmas. Yes, that's the one thing I asked for this year! I've been making pizzelles with my mom for as long as I can remember...which is to say, at least when I was little, my mom made them & I ate them! The past few years whenever I've been home for the holidays I've managed to make a batch with my mom's super old pizzelle maker that seems to make the thinnest cookies. I've even managed to bring pizzelles back on a plane (in a coffee can!) to Indiana. Yes, I <3 them.


Pizzelles

ingredients:
6 eggs
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp anise seeds

instructions:
Preheat pizzelle iron. Beat eggs, adding sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add cooled melted margarine & vanilla. Sift flour & baking powder, add to egg mixture. Stir in the anise seeds. Dough will be soft enough to be dropped from spoon. Place about a tablespoon onto each pizzelle pattern on the iron.

I was just telling my mom that at first I was disappointed to make pizzelles on the beautiful new iron because I had this crazy feeling that they wouldn't be ANYWHERE near as delicious as my mommy's. Turns out, these new & improved (and less than 30 year old) pizzelle irons are actually very nice. Even heat & consistent. Goodness they are delicious. And they're so easy to make, with tons of cookies in less than 1/2 an hour.

It's kind of sad to post this recipe because I know that only those of you with pizzelle makers can really join in, but since it's one of my favorite cookies I didn't want neglect the post. And if you've never had a pizzelle, you should definitely try one the next time you have a chance...they're really kind of unique.