These thin, crispy, and flavorful classic Italian Pizzelle Cookies with anise are the perfect Christmas cookie!

Stack of Pizzelle Cookies freshly dusted with powdered sugar.

I grew up making pizzelle cookies with anise each year for Christmas! They are my mom’s favorite cookies. These pizzelles are thin, crispy, and filled with flavor from the vanilla and anise. They are cooked on a special pizzelle iron!

I like to dust my pizzelle cookies with powdered sugar, but you can leave them plain or roll them as soon as they are done baking to make cannoli shells. You can also drizzle them with chocolate and decorate them with sprinkles to make them festive.

If you love traditional Christmas cookies, you have to try my snowball cookies as well as my raspberry thumbprint cookies!

Why You Should Make These Pizzelle Cookies

  • They are a fun and different way to make cookies for the holidays.
  • They don’t take long to make- the batter comes together in about 10 minutes, and then all you have to do is cook them in the pizzelle maker!
  • No oven is needed for these cookies.
  • You can drizzle these with chocolate and holiday sprinkles to make them more festive!

Recipe Ingredients

Ingredients to make Pizzelle cookies with anise.

Here are some notes on a few ingredients- please see the full ingredient list in the recipe card below!

  • Anise extract or seeds: this is a classic flavor for pizzelles. It’s not totally necessary, but I think anise gives it the best flavor. My mom typically makes these with anise seeds, but I like to use extract. Both work great!
  • Unsalted butter: I always bake with unsalted butter, but if you only have salted butter that will work too.
  • Vanilla Extract: I used both vanilla and anise extract in my pizzelles.

Step-by-Step Instructions

How to make Pizzelle Cookies with anise. 1. Wet ingredients in glass bowl with mixers. 2. Wet and dry ingredients combined in glass bowl with spatula. 3. Pizzelle cookie dough placed on pizzelle maker. 4. Baked Pizzelles resting on cooling rack with powdered sugar on top.

This recipe is super easy to make! All you have to do it mix up the batter ingredients, let the pizzelle-maker warm up, and then bake each cookie. The most time consuming part of this is waiting for each cookie to bake.

What is the traditional flavor of Italian pizzelle?

Classic pizzelles are flavored with anise, which is what I use in this recipe! If you aren’t familiar with anise, it actually has the flavor of licorice flavor. Sounds weird, but the combo of that plus the batter of pizzelles makes these slightly sweet.

Do I need a pizzelle maker to make these?

Yes, you do. There are many hacks to making pizzelles, but the tried and true way is to use a pizzelle maker. You can find them online or in stores, ranging in price. The good thing about pizzelle makers is that they last forever. My mom has one that has lasted her YEARS.

Pizzelle cookies laying on the table, with one Pizzelle cookie split down the middle.

Tips and Tricks

  • Buy an excellent electric pizzelle maker! These are key to making great pizzelles. You can find them online or sometimes in stores.
  • The dough is sticky so you’ll need to use your finger to push it off the spoon and onto the pizzelle iron.
  • The first couple of pizzelle cookies might be underbaked or overbaked, but after a few, you’ll start to get the hang of how long you need to keep them on the iron.
  • If you want to roll them to make shells, do it immediately after taking them off the iron while they are warm and malleable.
  • Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with chocolate to decorate.

Storing & Freezing

Pizzelle recipe with anise will stay fresh stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1-2 weeks.

You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. Leave at room temperature to defrost.

Stack of Pizzelle Cookies with anise on table, freshly dusted with powdered sugar.

Want to try more cookie recipes?

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5 from 3 reviews

Pizzelle Cookie with Anise

Yield: 30 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Author: Kelly Nash
These thin, crispy, and flavorful classic Italian Pizzelle Cookies with anise are the perfect Christmas cookie!
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Ingredients
 

  • 1¾ cup (218.75 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 2 tsp (2 tsp) baking powder
  • 3 (3) large eggs, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) anise seed or extract , optional

Equipment

Instructions
 

  • Sift together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs and sugar. Add in the cooled melted butter, vanilla extract, and anise.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be quite thick.
  • Use a tablespoon top scoop and drop the batter into a preheated pizzelle iron. Cook for about 1-2 minutes. I usually check the cookies around 1 minute, and go from there.
  • Using a small spatula, remove the pizzelle cookies from the iron and place them flat on a wire cooling rack. They will get hard as they cool. If you want to roll them into cannoli shells, do so carefully as soon as they come off the iron.
  • Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with chocolate before serving.

Notes

  • Buy an excellent electric pizzelle maker! These are key to making great pizzelles. You can find them online or sometimes in stores.
  • The dough is sticky so you’ll need to use your finger to push it off the spoon and onto the pizzelle iron.
  • The first couple of pizzelle cookies might be underbaked or overbaked, but after a few, you’ll start to get the hang of how long you need to keep them on the iron.
  • If you want to roll them to make shells, do it immediately after taking them off the iron while they are warm and malleable.
  • Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with chocolate to decorate.
Calories: 80kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 35mg, Potassium: 15mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 118IU, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 0.4mg
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