Pizzelle (Italian Waffle Cookies)

Name: Pizzelle (Italian Waffle Cookies)
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 eggs, large; 150g caster sugar; 115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp anise extract, or the zest of 1 lemon; 250g plain flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 0.25 tsp fine salt; 1 tbsp sunflower oil, for greasing the iron

Thin, lacy, lightly sweet cookies pressed in a pizzelle iron. Crisp at the edge and lovely with coffee.

Time50 min
LevelMedium
Costabout £0.09 a head

Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.

20 pizzelle

Ingredients

Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.

3eggslarge
150 gcaster sugar
115 gunsalted buttermelted and cooled
1 tspvanilla extract
1 tspanise extractor the zest of 1 lemon
250 gplain flour
2 tspbaking powder
¼ tspfine salt
1 tbspsunflower oilfor greasing the iron

Method

1
Heat a pizzelle iron (or a thin plate waffle maker) and brush it lightly with oil.
2
Whisk the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes until pale. Beat in the cooled melted butter, vanilla and anise extract.
3
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir into the egg mixture to make a thick, smooth batter. It should drop off a spoon in a slow ribbon.
4
Spoon a heaped tablespoon of batter into the middle of the iron. Close and cook for 30 to 45 seconds, until just golden.
5
Lift out with a fork and lay flat on a rack. They are soft when hot and crisp as they cool. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
6
Dust with icing sugar if you like. Store in a tin for up to a week.

Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.