Parmesan Chive Pizzelles‏-- Guest Post

Here it is Myra! As requested Carol made them just for you (wink). Don't they look delicious?

Thank you Carol, sure wish I had one right now!

Small kitchen appliances.....I've got a slew of them-some I use more than others.  One of my favorites that gets a real workout these days is my electric pizzelle iron. I have 2 of them-one that makes mini pizzelles and one I got from a lady that went to our church.  She was having a yard sale and Robin INSISTED I needed a full size pizzelle iron so I bought it. I'm SO glad I did....this wonderful woman passed away from cancer a few years ago, so every time I use her pizzelle iron, I think of her. Marsha's iron is the one I used for these.

I've been making pizzelles for years....more than 30 years as a matter of fact.  They're always the hit of a party because they're something different.  What I love the most about them is how quickly the batter goes together and how fast they cook up-plus the way you can vary the flavors.  My go-to pizzelle recipe uses anise extract-and everyone in my family loves them.  I know, however, that anise is a flavor people either love....or hate.  Through the years I've substituted extracts and made different flavors of sweet pizzelles.....BUT I've never thought of making them savory.

When I stumbled over this recipe while looking for new twists on traditional dessert pizzelles.....I couldn't believe my eyes.  Pizzelles that AREN'T sweet?  REALLY?  Then the wheels started to turn.....just think how good these would be alongside a bowl of homemade soup.
I happened to have soup simmering on the stove....and out of sheer luck, I found something new to make to go with it.

What I love about this recipe is it uses everything I usually have on hand.  The only chopping involved was for the scallions...one I got that done, the batter went together in no time at all. I decided to add onion powder and garlic powder to the dry ingredients and just a touch of sugar to the batter. I also added a little more cheese-how can you go wrong with more cheese?

The batter thickens up a lot as it sits and the pizzelles are almost cracker-like when they come off the iron-they're a lot "sturdier" than the pizzelles I'm used to making.

The original recipe calls for warming them in the oven to re-crisp them but I didn't find that necessary at all.  These stayed nice and crisp stored airtight for almost a week.

And let me tell you how good these are.  They're like eating an oversized cracker with a touch of Parmesan and onion flavor.  The garlic powder added a nice background flavor too.  Did we enjoy these?  Oh you BET we did.  They went so well with our soup and were fantastic days later as a snack in the middle of the afternoon.  Crispy, crunchy...delicious!

If you don't have a pizzelle iron-I strongly urge you to keep your eye out for a sale on one or look around at yard sales and flea markets.  I'm telling you-with a basic recipe, you can get a lot of mileage out of that machine, cranking out both sweet AND savory versions of these delicious cookies. 

My mind is already spinning with So many different flavor possibilities...OH this is gonna be fun!

Thanks Linda, for letting me share my latest creation-I wish I could pass the basket and let everybody try one!


Carol



PARMESAN CHIVE PIZZELLES
(Source: slightly adapted from a recipe by Shawn @ The Recipe Kitchen-original recipe found HERE)

3 large eggs
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 c. plus 1 rounded Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3 Tbsp. finely chopped chives or scallions

Spray the grid of an electric pizzelle iron lightly with nonstick spray.  Plug in the iron to heat while mixing the batter.

Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until light.  Add the sugar and butter, then whisk until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, Parmesan cheese, onion powder and garlic powder.  Add to the egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.  Stir in the chopped chives.  The batter will be thick, and will thicken more as it sits.

Drop by spoonfuls onto the preheated pizzelle iron.  It takes a few tries to figure out how much batter to use.  I use a regular teaspoon (not a measuring spoon) and spoon the batter slightly to the back of center on each mold-that seems to work well for me. The pizzelles take between 15-20 seconds to cook-when the steaming slows down, that's when I check to see if they're light golden brown. When cooked, remove to wire racks to cool completely.  They crisp up more as they cool.  

When completely cooled, store the pizzelles in an airtight container-they'll stay crisp for days. Makes approximately 24-30 pizzelles, depending on the size of pizzelles your iron makes.