Pizzelles

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 ½ teaspoons anise extract
• 3 ½ cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating well after each addition. Stir in anise extract.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture to form a very soft dough.

Lightly grease a pizzelle iron and heat it according to manufacturer’s instructions. Drop a heaping teaspoon of dough on each pizzelle design and close the lid. Bake the cookies approximately 1 minute, or until pizzelles are golden in color. Do not brown.

Open the pizzelle iron and remove each cookie by lifting the edge with a fork. Transfer the cookies to a dish towel covered with paper towels to absorb moisture. Cool 30 seconds. Paper towels will become damp with steam and will have to be replaced periodically. Transfer cookies to another set of paper towels and dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Transfer sugared pizzelles to wire racks to dry and finish cooling.

To store the cookies, place a small square of parchment or wax paper between each cookie and stack them in large coffee cans or cookie tins. Cover tightly and store up to several weeks. The anise flavor develops after 24 hours.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies