You'll love this Lemon Pizzelle Recipe! Lemon zest and extract bring delicious flavor to these buttery, crispy waffle cookies. Enjoy this variation of Italian Pizzelle!
I've never met a soul who doesn't enjoy lemon desserts. Everybody loves them!
And these delicate, lemon pizzelle cookies hit all the right notes. They're buttery and crispy with a pleasantly fresh, lemon taste.
My family devoured them! You're going to want these too.
Recipe ingredients
This lemon-flavored pizzelle recipe relies on some key ingredients for the best texture and taste.
Butter: A generous amount of butter produces the tastiest, crispy pizzelle. I always use salted butter here. If you use unsalted, you'll need to add a little extra salt to the batter.
Lemon: A combination of lemon zest and lemon extract produces delicious lemon flavor. It's noticeable but not over the top. If you want deeper flavor, you can add more extract.
Vanilla: A small amount of vanilla extract provides the perfect balance to the lemon pizzelle batter.
Salt: A little bit of salt makes the flavors pop!
How to make lemon pizzelle
See the card at the end of this post for the full recipe, but here's an overview.
Start by preheating your pizzelle iron.
Make the pizzelle batter
- Add eggs and sugar to a medium mixing bowl.
- Beat with a mixer until pale yellow.
- Add melted butter, lemon extract and vanilla extract. Beat until blended.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small mixing bowl. It helps to use a mesh strainer (affiliate link). Fold the flour mixture into the liquid batter. Gently stir in lemon zest.
Cook the pizzelle
- Scoop some batter onto the pizzelle iron, just above the center of each snowflake pattern. A cookie scoop (affiliate link) works best, but you could use a heaping measuring spoon and scrape out the batter with another spoon.
- Close the iron. After 90 seconds or so, lift the lid and use a spatula to remove the cooked lemon pizzelles to a wire cooling rack (affiliate link).
- When cool, separate any pizzelle that are connected by gently breaking them apart in the middle. Use your thumbnail to gently break off any excess crust around the edges of the snowflake pattern.
Recipe tips
- Be sure to follow the instructions for your pizzelle maker. You may need to grease the heated press with cooking spray.
- Let the pizzelle cookies cool in a single layer on a wire rack before stacking them. Otherwise, steam can make them soft.
How to serve them
Serve these delicious lemon waffle cookies plain or with a dusting of powdered sugar. You also could top them with whipped cream!
And...if you want to have some fun with these, mold the pizzelle into cups, shells or cones while they're still warm and pliable:
- Mold them around ramekins to make edible sundae cups. Fill them with ice cream, mousse or custard. Try topping them with Italian Strawberries with Sugar and Lemon!
- Wrap them around dowels to make lemon shells for cannoli.
- Form them into cones, and when cooled, place a tiny marshmallow in the bottom of each to prevent leaks. Fill with ice cream, pastry cream or whipped cream.
Storing them at room temperature
Wait until the pizzelle cookies are cool, then store them at room temperature in an air-tight container or zip-top plastic bag for several days. They'll remain crisp due to the butter in this recipe.
Freezing them
To freeze, wait until the pizzelles have cooled completely. Wrap up to six at a time in plastic, then place them in a container to keep them from breaking. Freeze for up to three months.
More Italian cookie recipes
- Chocolate Pizzelle
- Almond Biscotti
- Pignoli Cookies
- Italian Cookies (Vanilla or Anisette)
- Italian Rainbow Cookies
- Hazelnut Biscotti
And if you love lemon desserts, don't miss this Lemon Lush, Foolproof Lemon Meringue Pie or Pecan Lemon Pie!
Enjoy!
If you try this Lemon Pizzelle Recipe, please leave a comment and a rating!
Lemon Pizzelle Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons salted butter
- 4 extra-large eggs
- ½ cup + ⅓ cup granulated sugar (use all at once)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (spoon it into the cup and level it off with a knife)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about two medium lemons)
- powdered sugar for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat your pizzelle press according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Add the butter to a microwaveable bowl and melt the butter in the microwave, covered. (Start with 30 seconds and add more time as needed.)
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar starting on low, then medium speed, for at least three minutes total. Beat until the color is lighter yellow.
- Add the melted butter, lemon extract and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Beat until blended.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a small mixing bowl. (I place a large, fine-mesh strainer over a bowl, add the dry ingredients to the strainer and gently shake the strainer to sift the flour.) Give the flour mixture a stir with a spoon.
- Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg batter. (Use an under-and-over motion with a rubber spatula.) When that is combined, fold in the remaining flour mixture, just until incorporated.
- Rinse two lemons and pat them dry. Zest them until you have two teaspoons of zest. Gently stir the zest into the pizzelle batter.
- Follow the instructions in your pizzelle press manual for how to cook the pizzelle. Grease your pizzelle iron with cooking spray if required.
- Place one heaping tablespoon of batter onto each of the pizzelle plates on your iron, starting just behind the center of each plate (check your manual for where to place the batter.) If you have a cookie scoop with capacity for two tablespoons, use that for ease and uniformity. (Make a couple of pizzelle to see how much batter works best with your iron.)
- Cook the pizzelle until golden, or according to your preference. (Mine takes around 90 seconds.) It's likely that the two cooked pizzelle will be connected by excess batter. Leave them that way for now.
- Use a spatula to remove the cooked pizzelle from your iron and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. The pizzelle will be very hot. (See notes if you want to shape the pizzelle into bowls, cones or cannoli shells.)
- Continue making more pizzelle until you have used up the batter. You can stack any cooled pizzelle to make room on your cooling rack.
- When the pizzelle have cooled completely, gently separate each pair of pizzelle cookies and break off any excess crust around the edges of the snowflake pattern with your fingers. (I don't recommend scissors, because the pizzelle will break.) You can eat the pieces you broke off.
- You can serve the pizzelle cookies plain, with a dusting of powdered sugar or with a dollop or more of whipped cream.
- Store the cooled pizzelle in an airtight container or zip-top plastic bag at room temperature. Mine stay crisp even in a plastic container, but if you prefer, you could store them in a cookie tin or large coffee can. They should keep for several days. To freeze, wait until the pizzelle cookies are completely cool. Wrap up to six at a time in plastic, then place them in a container to protect them from breaking. Freeze them for up to three months.
Notes
- Mold them into edible sundae cups by using ramekins or the bottom of a muffin pan. Fill with mousse, custard or ice cream, and top with Italian Strawberries with Sugar and Lemon.
- Wrap them around dowels to make lemon pizzelle cannoli shells. You can even dip the ends in melted chocolate.
- Form them into cones, and when cooled, place a tiny marshmallow in the bottom of each one to prevent leaks. Fill them with ice cream or whipped cream.
Nutrition
(Recipe Source: Cooking with Mamma C)
Jr says
These are such an amazing treat especially if lemon is you favorite cookie
Mamma C says
Hi Jr - I agree! I'm so glad you enjoyed these.
Judy Folden says
These are very good and easy to make! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Mamma C says
Hi Judy - I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for leaving a review.