I picked up a new Pizzelle maker this last week and wanted to give it a try. Initially I was going for some cheesy pizzelles to have with the homemade pasta I was working on for dinner. After whipping up a batch of those I was hooked. At that moment, my only regret was that I got a machine that only made two at a time. Probably because I wanted them warm to eat with dinner. And I certainly wanted more than two! I think if I were to have an event that I needed to make a large quantity of these I'd get a different machine. But this Cuisinart that I picked up worked perfectly. It cooked perfectly and the cleanup was quick and easy. I'd definitely recommend it.
Then I wanted to move onto the sweet delicious pizzelles that I could have with coffee or tea. I saw a recipe in Sift magazine for ginger molasses cookies and decided to make a few modifications and turn that into a ginger molasses pizzelle recipe.
Tips to cook down the Ale:
This recipe utilizes an amber ale. Don't skip it, that tiny bit of beer gives a huge flavor punch. I went simple and used a Fat Tire Amber Ale. You could use whatever you like, I just happened to have one of those in the fridge. And be sure to cook that bottle of beer all the way down to 1 ½ ounces. It's going to taste extremely bitter, but once it mixes with the pizzelle dough something magical happens! I kept a heat proof measuring cup next to the cooktop and once I thought it was close, I just poured the beer into the cup and measured. Just under a quarter of a cup is what you are looking for. If you have more than that, put it back in the pan and keep cooking.
Pizzelle tips:
The only other thing to know is when to take the cookie out of the pizzelle press. I have a setting of 1-5. Five being the longest cook time and one is the shortest. I like my pizzelles crispy and firm, so I cooked then on a setting of four. For each one, I used about a tablespoon of dough.
My press came with a measuring spoon for the dough, if yours doesn't just grab a tablespoon and go with it. After one pizzelle you will know if you have too much or too little dough.
I was slightly obsessed about having clean edges on the cookies. Once they cooled a bit, I got out the kitchen shears and cut the edges to be smooth. If you don't care about this, then don't bother just enjoy the cookie.
I also cut the ginger pretty small as you can see in the image. I didn't want large clumps in the cookie, so I cut small, and they worked out well with the press.
How to keep your Pizzelles crisp:
Store your pizzelle cookies in an airtight container for two - three weeks. When exposed to the air your pizzelles will absorb moisture and lose the crunch. If this happens put them in a warm oven for a couple of minutes and they will become crisp again. You can also wrap your pizzelles in plastic and store in a airtight container and freeze them for two - three months.
Now if pizzelles aren't your thing, but you are looking for some fall flavors for dessert we have a few pear and cranberry items that work perfectly for the season. Or even this cran apple crostata. Whatever you choose, I hope you are enjoying the season. Please share if you end up making any of the recipes, we always love hearing how they turn out.
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Ginger Molasses Pizelles
Ingredients
- 1 Bottle Amber Ale (12 ounces)
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (8 ounces)
- ¼ cup Molasses (3 ounces)
- 2 ¼ cup Sugar (15.75 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 tsps Ground Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Ground Allspice
- 3 cups AP Flour (12.75 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Egg
- ½ cup Finely diced crystallized ginger (3.25 ounces)
Instructions
- Bring the beer to a simmer in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally and make sure it doesn't foam over. Gradually bring to a low boil and cook, stirring frequently for about 15 - 20 minutes. It will thicken and reduce to 1 ½ ounces. About 3 tablespoons. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, molasses, sugar and salt over low heat. Stir often until the butter melts and the sugar and salt dissolve. Around 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add the spices and the amber ale reduction. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a large stand mixer bowl. Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour in the liquid ingredients. Add the egg. Mix until blended and a thick batter forms. Stir in the ginger. Cover the dough and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour, until it is firm.
- Once the dough has firmed up and cooled, turn on the pizzelle press and get it warmed up. I lightly greased the press with vegetable oil. Scoop the dough by tablespoon and place it on the press. Lower the lid and the timer of the press will begin based on the number you have chosen for the cook time. The press will beep once done and you can remove the pizzelles at that time. I removed them from the press and put them on a wire rack to cool.
- Clean up any crumbs from the cookies and reapply vegetable oil if needed. Cook your next batch of cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
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also. By all means you could easily make your own bark and use in the recipe. Just make sure the peppermint is finely chopped.
to make the recipe with a 
And from past comments we learned that not all 7" pans are the same height. So just make sure not to overfill your pan. I used the entire recipe in my pan with no spill overs. But if your pan is a bit shorter, make sure to leave some room for the cake rise so you don't have spill over in the pot.
The cinnamon and brown sugar cookie flavor would be a great crust for the cake. I didn't realize how good those were until I started flying American Airlines so much this year and they always hand out those cookies on the morning flights. So good with coffee. Now if they could just make a good coffee, I may never want to get off the plane.
