Simple ingredients shine in this easy recipe for lemon pizzelle. With the perfect amount of lemon flavoring and a just-right crisp texture, these buttery and thin Italian cookies require no chilling or even a need for the oven at all. Great for Christmas and Easter.
It's the most wonderful time of the year, as they say, and one in which my pizzelle press gets serious attention. While my classic Italian pizzelle recipe, flavored with anise, have my heart, I love to make a batch of chocolate pizzelle around the holidays, too.
If you're not the world's biggest fan of anise/anisette/licorice (shout out to my husband!), here's another one for you. These lemon pizzelle feature the perfect balance of bright citrus with a hint of vanilla, all with a butter-y crispness and an underlying but optional olive oil note that truly ties everything together.
Getting the lemon ingredients right in cookies or a dessert recipe is important. Outside of something like graham crust lemon bars, you don't want the lemon flavoring to be so bold it's practically all you taste. And on the flip side, using too small of a lemon when zesting or not densely packing your zest into the measuring spoon can result in a subpar result.
To achieve a reliably balanced, perfectly lemon pizzelle cookie every time, I use a combination of lemon extract and lemon zest. Lemon extract is easy to find in the baking aisle, takes seconds to measure out, and is always at the ready for whenever the craving strikes. Pairing the two ingredients together layers the lemon flavor so that its flavor and scent are both apparent in the pizzelle once cooked.
Recipe Ingredients
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: I'm a BIG fan of using olive oil in citrus-y flavored sweet treats, like anginetti cookies. Here I replace half of the typical melted butter in my base recipe with extra-virgin olive oil (not light or olive oil "for baking") for a very complementary, subtle flavor pairing. Can be substituted with vegetable oil or more melted butter if you prefer.
- Butter: Melted and slightly cooled, as to not cook little bits of eggs when you mix them together.
- Lemon Extract: Look for a nice-quality brand of extract - my preferred lemon extract is from McCormick.
- Vanilla Extract: Because who doesn't love a hint of vanilla alongside a lemon dessert?
- Lemon Zest: One tablespoon of very well-packed zest is needed - think about two medium lemons or one-and-a-half large lemons.
- Baking Powder: I recommend using an aluminum-free variety if your palate has ever picked up on a tinge of metallic flavor in baked goods that use a higher amount of baking powder.
The Lemon Extract 4-1-1
Lemon extract in baked recipes mellows out a good deal, so don't be put off by the higher quantity listed in the recipe card. It's not like the stronger extracts where you really don't want to use too much, like peppermint or almond.
I've only tested these lemon pizzelle cookies with lemon extract, not straight up lemon oil or a stronger baking emulsion in which the flavor doesn't bake off. If substituting with an emulsion, you likely will need to use much less.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Before Beginning: While not 100% necessary, rubbing the lemon zest into the granulated sugar for 1-2 minutes before mixing it with the eggs releases the lemon's essential oils and results in a well-distributed and heightened flavor. I recommend it.
- Step 1: Blend together eggs and sugar with an electric mixer.
- Step 2: Beat in melted butter, olive oil, and lemon and vanilla extracts.
- Step 3: Separately whisk together the dry ingredients and add them to the bowl of wet ingredients.
- Step 4: Stir until just combined and no dry flour streaks remain. The batter will be quite thick and have air bubbles.
- Step 5: Heat your pizzelle press according to instructions, then place a dollop of batter on each heated grid.
- Step 6: Close the lid and cook for the determined time for the crispness level you like.
- Step 7: Right away set these lemon pizzelle flat onto a wire rack to cool. If any part of them is hanging over the edge of the rack while warm, they'll cool and crisp up in a bent manner. Once cooled completely, dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
Tips and Tricks
- Mess-Free Portioning - A small (two-teaspoon capacity) cookie scoop is clutch here in transferring equally-sized dollops of batter to the pizzelle grids while keeping your hands clean. I scoop it heaping with batter. This small scoop is also great to ensure same-size florentines.
- Follow Your Pizzelle Press Instructions - All presses or pizzelle irons have their quirks and behave differently, whether they're non-stick and electric or cast iron and set over the stove. Adjust the timing and preparation steps to be in line with your specific model and kind.
- Use Vegetable Oil For Sticking - Canola oil can emit an off-putting scent if used in this manner, so stick with vegetable oil for greasing the grids, if needed.
- Serving Suggestions - A light dust of powdered sugar is a classic topping, but these lemon pizzelle are delicious adorning a scoop of vanilla ice cream, too.
- Storage Instructions - It's important to store these lemon pizzelle correctly to ensure they stay crisp until the last one is eaten. Make sure they're totally cool before storing in an air-tight container at room temperature in a low-humidity environment (ideally). Do not refrigerate.
More Italian Cookie Recipes
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Lemon Pizzelle
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon well-packed lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 teaspoons pure lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup plus 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum-free recommended)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your hands for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth and thickened.
- Beat in the olive oil, melted butter, lemon extract, and vanilla extract on low speed until combined.
- In a separate, medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the combined dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir/mix until just combined and no dry streaks remain.
- Set out three large wire cooling racks near your pizzelle press.
- Heat your pizzelle press, preparing it according to the manufacturer's instructions. Even with my non-stick electric press, I will brush a thin layer on the top and bottom grates with vegetable oil before plugging it in. This ensures no sticking throughout the entire batch.
- Once your press is heated, scoop between 2 teaspoons to 1 Tablespoon of batter onto the center of each grid (or a different amount, if the instructions dictate) and cook until crisp and golden to golden-brown to your liking. This will vary by press so adjust as you need, but for my non-stick electric press I go for around 1 minute 30 seconds to 1 minute 40 seconds per batch.
- Immediately transfer lemon pizzelle to a wire cooling rack, ensuring they lay flat and aren't hanging over an edge as they will cool and crisp in a bent position. Repeat for the remaining batter.
- Store cooled pizzelle in an air-tight container at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Lemons - This amount of lemon zest is from about two medium lemons or 1 ½ large lemons.
- Olive Oil Substitute - If you're very skeptical of using extra-virgin olive oil in this recipe, you can replace it with an equal amount of melted butter.
- Less Mess - A heaping two-teaspoon capacity cookie scoop makes portioning out relatively even pizzelle mess-free and quick.
- Adjust Timing as Needed - These instructions and timing are for an electric non-stick pizzelle press. If you have a pizzelle iron with cast iron grids that cooks on the stovetop you may need to make adjustments as I have not tested it this way.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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