What Italian cookie is a thin, waffle-like cookie often flavored with anise? The answer is pizzelle. These delicate Italian waffle cookies are made from flour, eggs, sugar, and butter or oil, with anise or anisette among the most traditional flavorings.
Pizzelle batter is cooked in a patterned iron resembling a small waffle iron. The iron presses a decorative design, often a snowflake, into both sides of the cookie. When cooled, pizzelle are usually thin and crisp, although recipes and cooking methods can produce a softer texture.
The cookie is especially associated with Abruzzo and is also traditional in nearby Lazio and Molise. Regional names include ferratelle, nevole, and cancelle. Pizzelle are commonly served at Christmas, Easter, and Italian weddings, making them both an everyday sweet and a celebration food.
Their shape also makes them useful as a base for other desserts. While still warm and flexible, a pizzella can be rolled around a dowel to form a tube resembling a cannoli shell. Two pizzelle may also be sandwiched with cannoli cream or hazelnut spread. The name is sometimes confused with pizza, but in this context it refers to a stamped wafer cookie rather than a savory pie.