Snowflake Cookies

We finally got some snow here in the Midwest, pretty much our first real snow and it’s mid-January!  The kids also had their first snow day, which is always fun. The delicate snow-covered trees got me thinking about pizzelles, which are light little italian cookies that look a lot like snowflakes and go perfect with hot cocoa after playing in the snow.

This is one of those recipes that requires a new little gadget, a pizzelle press (ok, twist my arm). My mom passed along a vintage krumkake maker, a seriously troublesome device that presses batter and is held over a hot burner to bake.  After burning the heck out of my fingers and cookies, saying too many bad words cursing the hearty and stoic Norwegians, I broke down and bought an electric machine. It works like a charm, and my cookies are beautiful.

This batter is easiest to make in a food processor, but can be mixed by hand.  Regular flour works as well as cake flour, but the cookies are far lighter with cake flour.  Now I’ve opened up a whole new world of fun cookies to explore: next up cannelloni, stroopwafel, krumkake…

Perfect Pizzelles

Vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour (I use Swan’s Down, be careful, Pillbury Softasilk has dairy and egg)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted dairy-free margarine (I use Fleischmann’s Unsalted Margarine)
3/4 cup coconut milk beverage (like Silk Pure Coconut)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted margarine
3/4 cup coconut milk beverage
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.) Same method for both type of batter!
2.) In a food processor, mix the dry ingredients together: flour, powdered sugar, salt and cocoa (if making chocolate).
3.) Add the wet ingredients: margarine, coconut milk, vanilla. Pulse until smooth.
4.) Heat up the pizzelle press and bake!