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Gingerbread Pizzelle

These Gingerbread Pizzelle are fragrant with spices and molasses, making them perfect for Christmas gift giving. While Pizzelle are often flavored with anise, lemon, or vanilla in their home of Abruzzo, the easy batter can be adapted to whatever you fancy.

Gingerbread Pizzelle with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, fresh ginger and molasses on a stick

Lemon Pizzelle are among my favorite, but by far the most popular flavor I have made is my Chocolate Pizzelle. However, these Gingerbread Pizzelle are so delicious and festive; it’s all I want to nibble on at this time of the year. Simplicity is the beauty of the Gingerbread Pizzelle batter, but the finished cookie looks exquisite.

Don’t stop here if you love gingerbread as much as I do. You must make my gingerbread cookies without molasses. They are amazing!!

Gingerbread Pizzelle

Pizzelle is not a cookie I grew up with, but when I saw these gorgeous things on US food blogs, I just knew it would be my type of cookie. I read all I could about these cookies and the irons that create the thin, crisp wafer. When I blogged about them in my early days of blogging, I innocently reworded someone else’s description of Pizzelle. That caused quite an upset with that particular blogger, who called me terrible names and threatened legal action! I was so nervous and panicked that I immediately pulled down the entire post. It just disappeared. Now I think back and realize how awful one blogger was to another. It’s one of the very few down moments in my eight years of blogging. Just be kind to one another. It’s that simple.

Gingerbread Pizzelle with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and molasses on a stick

It seems like we are all super busy at this time of the year, and we overload ourselves with expectations. What’s important is just to be kind to one another. It will make all the difference to someone, and you may not even know it.

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Gingerbread Pizzelle with cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and molasses on a stick

Gingerbread Pizzelle Recipe

A classic Italian cookie from Abruzzo with a Christmas twist. This crisp wafer cookie is fragrant with spices and molasses, perfect for gift giving.
4.95 from 17 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings:20 large cookies
Author: Marcellina

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • cup (130 grams) white sugar
  • ½ cup (120mls) light olive oil or other light tasting oil
  • 3 tablespoons (45mls) molasses
  • 1 ¾ cup (220 grams) all purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • powdered (icing) sugar for dusting

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl whisk eggs and sugar until combined.
  • Whisk in oil and the molasses.
  • Add in the flour, salt, vanilla and spices
  • Heat the pizzelle maker on stove top, or if electric plug in unit.
  • Drop tablespoon of batter onto iron and bake until golden light brown in colour.
  • Remove and cool on wire rack.
  • Dust with powdered (icing) sugar.
  • Store cooled cookies in sealed containers
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and leave a comment below!

Nutritional Estimate Per Serving

Calories: 131kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 37IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. For accurate results, it is recommended that the nutritional information be calculated based on the ingredients and brands you use.

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4.95 from 17 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




22 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe is excellent and perfect for the holidays! I suggest adding more ginger if you prefer a “spicier” gingerbread flavor.

  2. 5 stars
    I made these twice in the past week!! Soooo good .
    With 1 tablespoon of dough per pizzelle, I ended up making about 40 , my machine may be smaller than yours.
    I also made them with baking molasses and they were so tasty , I love the gingerbread flavors . I did not even need the icing sugar on them they were so good 🙂
    Thank you for this recipe. Could you give more details as to how to store them , I am not sure how far in advance I can make them for gifts.

  3. 5 stars
    These are so easy and tasty. I made them exactly as the recipe is written and they were so good, gingerbread flavour but so light and crisp.

  4. I love gingerbread pizzelles and the recipe I have calls for baking powder. Even so they are heavy although very tasty. Doesn’t this recipe call for any leavening?

    1. Pamela, no there is no leavening at all in my pizzelle recipes. I think it depends on your pizzelle iron. If your iron makes thick pizzelle, you would need baking powder. However the pizzelle iron I use makes very thin, crispy pizzelle so there is no need for any baking powder. I have tested with and without baking powder and found no difference.

      1. thank you for your clarification. now I will try without the baking powder. my recipe, which came with the iron calls for it and I often wonder why they are not as crispy as I recall. always thought I was doing something incorrectly
        can’t wait to try this recipe.

  5. 5 stars
    Hi, I love the pattern on your pizzelles in the photo, where did you find such a pattern? Love this recipe too!

    1. I purchased my pizzelle iron at Costante Imports in Melbourne, Australia. They are imported from Italy and I’d imagine available globally. They are produced in Italy by CBE ELETTRODOMESTICI. Hope that helps.

  6. 4 stars
    I recently purchased a pizzelle maker, something I have desired for a long time. So I am eager to try all kinds of these delicious, light Italian sweet treats. These were good. I didn’t have light olive oil so used sunflower oil as that is what I had. One issue I have is that the recipe list has molasses but in the directions there is no reference to when to add it to the batter. I decided it must go with the wet ingredients prior to adding the dry. They baked up fast and were easy to measure, lovely consistency. I added a 1/2 teaspoon extra vanilla and I cut back on the ginger but next time I will add what the recipe calls for. They are beautiful with the powdered sugar on top. Who says gingerbread is only for Christmas.

    1. Sue, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and using your new pizzelle maker. Thanks for noticing the typo. I’ve fixed it now. Yes, you’re correct – it goes in with the wet ingredients. And yes, absolutely! Who says gingerbread is only for Christmas! Gingerbread is delicious all year round!

  7. 5 stars
    I made these gingerbread pizzelles and then another batch with anise. This is the BEST pizzelle recipe I have ever used. The olive oil must be the secret ingredient. I’ve always used butter up until now. THANK YOU!

    1. Jill, I am over the moon that you love these as much as I do!! Yes, you could be right. I’ve tried these with butter and they’re not quite as good. The olive oil versions are excellent. You are so very welcome!!

  8. Hello and Seasons Greetings from. Boston, MA, USA. I want to try these delicious looking Gingerbread Pizzelle. I notice you use olive oil instead of butter. Is there any reason? The reason I ask is because all the recipe’s I have seen state not to use oil. I do have light olive oil.
    Thank you in advance.

    1. Hello Peg! How lovely to hear from you! Traditionally Pizzelle are made with oil and not butter. Probably because pizzelle originate in Abruzzo which is in mid to south Italy. There it is more common to use oil in recipes. Whereas in the north where there are a lot of dairy cows it is more common to use butter. I like oil because it is convenient – no having to melt butter and letting it cool. However, in saying that, this week I made my first batch of vanilla pizzelle with butter and I really liked them like that. So, I think you could use either and I just may have to add a footnote to my recipe now that I have tried it. Oil is just easier, I think 😉
      Best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year from sunny North Queensland! Baci xx