Lemon Pizzelle Recipe

plate of italian lemon pizzelle cookies with powdered sugar

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Learn to make crispy Lemon Pizzelle cookies! These Italian waffle cookies are light, buttery and delicious.

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: -40

Calories: 89kcal

Author: Mamma C

Equipment

1 pizzelle iron

Ingredients

12 tablespoons salted butter
4 extra-large eggs
½ cup + ⅓ cup granulated sugar (use all at once)
1 Tablespoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (spoon it into the cup and level it off with a knife)
2 teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about two medium lemons)
powdered sugar for serving (optional)

Instructions

Heat your pizzelle press according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Add the butter to a microwaveable bowl and melt the butter in the microwave, covered. (Start with 30 seconds and add more time as needed.)
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar starting on low, then medium speed, for at least three minutes total. Beat until the color is lighter yellow.
Add the melted butter, lemon extract and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Beat until blended.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small mixing bowl. (I place a large, fine-mesh strainer over a bowl, add the dry ingredients to the strainer and gently shake the strainer to sift the flour.) Give the flour mixture a stir with a spoon.
Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg batter. (Use an under-and-over motion with a rubber spatula.) When that is combined, fold in the remaining flour mixture, just until incorporated.
Rinse two lemons and pat them dry. Zest them until you have two teaspoons of zest. Gently stir the zest into the pizzelle batter.
Follow the instructions in your pizzelle press manual for how to cook the pizzelle. Grease your pizzelle iron with cooking spray if required.
Place one heaping tablespoon of batter onto each of the pizzelle plates on your iron, starting just behind the center of each plate (check your manual for where to place the batter.) If you have a cookie scoop with capacity for two tablespoons, use that for ease and uniformity. (Make a couple of pizzelle to see how much batter works best with your iron.)
Cook the pizzelle until golden, or according to your preference. (Mine takes around 90 seconds.) It's likely that the two cooked pizzelle will be connected by excess batter. Leave them that way for now.
Use a spatula to remove the cooked pizzelle from your iron and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. The pizzelle will be very hot. (See notes if you want to shape the pizzelle into bowls, cones or cannoli shells.)
Continue making more pizzelle until you have used up the batter. You can stack any cooled pizzelle to make room on your cooling rack.
When the pizzelle have cooled completely, gently separate each pair of pizzelle cookies and break off any excess crust around the edges of the snowflake pattern with your fingers. (I don't recommend scissors, because the pizzelle will break.) You can eat the pieces you broke off.
You can serve the pizzelle cookies plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar or with a dollop or more of whipped cream.
Store the cooled pizzelle in an airtight container or zip-top plastic bag at room temperature. Mine stay crisp even in a plastic container, but if you prefer, you could store them in a cookie tin or large coffee can. They should keep for several days. To freeze, wait until the pizzelle cookies are completely cool. Wrap up to six at a time in plastic, then place them in a container to protect them from breaking. Freeze them for up to three months.

Notes

Choosing a pizzelle maker

The thickness of your pizzelle will depend on your pizzelle press. If you want thin wafers, as pictured in this post, go for one with shallow grooves in the snowflake design. If you prefer thicker pizzelle, you'll need an iron with deeper grooves.

Other ways to use pizzelle cookies

While the pizzelle cookies are still warm and pliable, you can mold them into other shapes while wearing oven mitts or gloves:

Mold them into edible sundae cups by using ramekins or the bottom of a muffin pan. Fill with mousse, custard or ice cream, and top with Italian Strawberries with Sugar and Lemon.
Wrap them around dowels to make lemon pizzelle cannoli shells. You can even dip the ends in melted chocolate.
Form them into cones, and when cooled, place a tiny marshmallow in the bottom of each one to prevent leaks. Fill them with ice cream or whipped cream.

Nutrition