Gluten Free Pizelles are our twist on the traditional Italian Cookie called a Pizzelle made in a press. This recipe has been developed to be safe for gluten free and top 8 allergen free. It is a family favourite for us.
Jump to:
- What is a Pizzelle?
- What Do You Need to Make Gluten Free Pizzelles?
- Adapting Traditional Treats for Allergies
- Ingredients for Making Pizzelles
- How To Make Gluten Free Pizzelle Cookies
- Flavour Variations for Gluten Free Pizzelles
- Storage of Pizzelle Cookies
- What to Serve With Gluten Free Pizzelles
- Other Recipes You May Enjoy
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Pizzelles are something our family makes together. There is a lot of tradition for us in doing it as a family. My partner’s mum and dad are the driving force behind the tradition. She makes the dough and he does all the pressing. The kids are now the ones who do all the pressing. Our oldest works the waffle press, with supervision.
What is a Pizzelle?
A pizzelle is a wafer thin waffle cookie. Try saying that 5 times quickly! Phew.
An Italian origin cookie, pizzelles aren’t sickly sweet and are popular in our house with a cup or tea, coffee, or hot chocolate in colder weather. I like to serve them with homemade ice cream for the summer treats. It should snap when bent.
If you want to make them into cones you need to under bake them slightly and do it while it is hot. Plan for lots of breakage if rolling them. We have yet to
Any broken ones here get turned into cookie crumbs and used in a ganache layer in a (n)ice cream cake, as the base for a fun pudding dessert, an addition in the ice cream we make, or as a pie crust in our crushed cookie pie crust. They can be made in an original flavour like our recipe here or jazzed up with this chocolate version found in this Chocolate Pizzelles Cookie Recipe
What Do You Need to Make Gluten Free Pizzelles?
You have to have a press or iron for these cookies. The heated plates are specific to this kind of cookie. We have a waffle maker like machine that does them, you might be able to find one with removable plates but we use a dedicated machine.
I like one that can do many cookies at once as there are 6 of us to feed. We are all usually hovering around the iron awaiting for a fresh one to come our way.
L'academie does a great round up and review of the best machines. Be sure to check it out here before making any purchases.
Adapting Traditional Treats for Allergies
Our allergy friendly cookie is in the spirit of the original which is usually made from flour, eggs, sugar and butter. Only one of those ingredients is something we can eat in most cases. It took a lot of trial and test cookies to get the eggs replaced. That was the most difficult part. We settled on an aquafaba and egg replacer mix to get as close to the original taste and texture.
It can be really hard to take something so ingrained in our family tradition. It took a lot of tries to get it just right so our family didn't know anything was different in the recipe.
Ingredients for Making Pizzelles
Gluten Free All Purpose Flour: We use one with xanthan gum. If yours doesn’t have guar gum either it will need some added. About ¼ teaspoon per cup of flour. We used many different kinds of all purpose flours in development and all from the store brand of GF one for one to Bob’s red mill 1 to 1 or Robin hood GF flour. The latter was our favourite but they all worked.
Butter: We like the buttery sticks or block butter. They have a lower water content which matters in the press heat.
Aquafaba and Egg Replacer: We use both as there are a lot of eggs to replace. Aquafaba is the water from a tin or beans or chickpeas. Our fav is from chickpeas. The egg replacer is best as a flax egg or Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer with psyllium husk.
The Others: Make sure your baking soda, sugar (vegan), and vanilla are all safe for you.
How To Make Gluten Free Pizzelle Cookies
All the ingredients go in to a medium bowl and are mixed until just combined. While mixing it is a great time to get the gluten free pizzelle machine pre-heated. Once at temperature oil the machine plate, either with spray or with a heat proof silicone brush. Using a 1.5 tablespoon spoon place a scoop in the dead centre of the rondelles and close the machine to press the batter.
Follow the direction on you machine to know when the dough is done, ours has a light that illuminates when the cookies are ready.
Remove the cookie with a flat silicone heat proof spatula and put the cookie in a shallow dish with granulated sugar and flip to coat both sides. Them move to a flat surface to cool. Cooling on a rack can cause the cookies to wave and warp. Piling them when warm will make them stick together.
Flavour Variations for Gluten Free Pizzelles
Adding a couple pinches of cinnamon to the batter and using a mix of cinnamon sugar for coating after cooking will make the gluten free pizzelles taste like a churro.
To replicate a wintery warm gingerbread flavour add ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground ginger to the recipe.
For a chocolate version head on over to our Chocolate Pizzelle Cookies recipe.
Storage of Pizzelle Cookies
Make sure the gluten free pizzelles are fully cooled before placing in the sealed container.
Countertop Storage
The gluten free cookies store best in a sealed container for up to 7 days on the counter.
Freezer Storage
They also freeze well for up to 4 weeks in a deep freeze when stored in a sealed container. You can also store the cookies crushed in a sealed bag for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
What to Serve With Gluten Free Pizzelles
Pizzelles are a great accompaniment to a bowl of vegan ice cream like our blueberry white chocolate coconut (n)ice cream. Part of our tradition is to have a cup of milky tea or a coffee and a couple of Gluten Free Pizzelles as a treat.
We hope this recipe becomes part of your family tradition as it is ours.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ C all purpose GF flour with xanthan gum
- 2 tsps Baking powder
- 3 Tbsps flax mixed with 6 Tbsps water to make a flax egg
- ¾ C sugar
- ½ C vegan plant butter block or stick
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ C granulated sugar for coating after pressing.
Instructions
- -melt butter over medium heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- In a small bowl mix flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix flax and water with a whisk to form flax eggs.
- Add sugar and continue whisking by hand until the mix is thick.
- Slowly add the melted vegan butter while whisking continuously.
- Whisk in vanilla.
- Sift in dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or whisk until just combined, not longer.
- Heat pizzelle press until it shows ready based on your model of press.
- Put ½ C sugar in a shallow wide bowl or plate with edges, set aside.
- Use 1 ½ Tbsps of mix in the centre of each cookie spot.
- Follow your presses’ instructions for when they will be done.
- Remove from the press and put cookies one by one into the sugar bowl previously set aside flipping to get both sides. And set on a rack to cool. (Be careful as they will be hot)
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment and us know how much you liked it.