Chocolate Pizzelles

Chocolate Pizzelles

A pizzelle is a simple sugar cookie, originating in Italy and now popular throughout the West. A pizzelle is made using sugar, flour, butter and eggs, and most often flavored with traditional ingredients such as anise, lemon or vanilla. Once the dough has been mixed, the cookies are baked using a special pizzelle iron . A pizzelle iron is similar to a waffle iron, with both traditional and modern electric versions available. I recently bought a new pizzelle iron, but until then I was using one that had belonged to my Grandmother. As a kid, every 5 years or so we made the trek (driving!) to Ohio, and she would always have these for me. Not sure why - we certainly aren't Italian!

But, usually, I only make pizzelles at Christmas time. And usually, I only make the traditional flavor, which is anise. But I was trying to think of something unusual to bake for an upcoming "Cookie Baking" contest at work, so I gave these a go. Unfortunately out of a recipe that made 5 dozen, I was only able to get about 2 dozen that didn't stick to my iron. So, I gave up on that idea! The ones it made were tasty, though.