Meyer Lemon Pizzelle

Author Notes

Pizzelle are a holiday tradition in my mother's family, who hail from the Abruzzi region of Italy, where pizzelle are traditional confections. Every year, my mom and grandma would stand over multiple irons, scooping the dough and pressing the cookies. Extension cords were necessary, as each woman wielded multiple pizzelle irons. My mom and grandma loved to flavor the cookies either anise or orange.

Today, I proudly own four pizzelle irons and Meyer Lemon is one of my favorite flavors. I decided to sub Meyer Lemon zest in the batter last year and the resultant batch was one of my best ever. Some tweaking of my grandmother's recipe resulted in beautifully crisp, white snowflakes with flecks of gold. For dinner parties, you can form the pizzelle into cups by draping the hot cookie over a drinking glass or ramekin. Fill with pastry cream, curd, or mousse and fresh fruit. Pizzelle make great waffle cones and cups, and are a perfect match for gelato. —Hilarybee

Test Kitchen Notes

Hillarybee's pizzelle are lovely crisp, buttery vanilla cookies perfumed with Meyer lemon. The touch of orange extract really makes the citrus shine. Plus, they are beautiful. Once the batter is made, it only takes a few seconds to create a beautifully patterned thin cookie. The simple pizzelle would be excellent served with any of the suggestions in Hillarybee's notes, or ice cream and fruit or sandwiched with a little bit of lemon curd. —Stephanie Bourgeois