Reader requested recipe: low carb, grain-free pizzelle! These crisp Italian waffle cookies are a tradition for many families at Christmas. This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill.
Confession time: I don’t really like pizzelle all that much. I just find them rather boring. I am ducking for cover as I say this because I can see people all over the country throwing sharp objects in my direction. I hear so many say all the time that this flat waffled cookie is their favourite Christmas cookie. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I just can’t quite see the appeal. Even when I make low carb, grain-free pizzelle such as these. They are good but they aren’t really cookies, in my humble opinion. They’re just really flat waffles with a little flavouring! They’re decent spread with some peanut butter for breakfast but that’s about the extent of it for this girl.
Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know people love them and so I apologize profusely if I offend. So many people have asked me to make low carb pizzelle but they do require special equipment. While I am the queen of baking equipment, I try not to purchase items that have only a single use. And a seasonal single use at that! But the pressure was just too great for me so I broke down and did it. That and the fact that I noticed when I accidentally overcooked my low carb cream cheese crepes, they got crispy and rather reminded me of pizzelle in texture and flavour. I knew I need to run with that and see what I could come up with.
The nice thing with these pizzelle is that you can use your blender to whip up the batter, so it’s less messy and it’s easy to pour the batter into the hot iron. A good high-powered blender works best for a really smooth, homogenous batter. I used both Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour and almond meal for these and I found I had to increase the flours compared to my crepe recipe to get something that worked for pizzelle.
Now here’s the trick for these low carb Italian waffle cookies: you must let them rest and cool COMPLETELY to crisp up. Right off the iron, they are soft and malleable, just like real pizzelle (at this point, you could roll them into cones or tubes if you like). And even after they seem completely cool, they still aren’t all that crisp. They are best left out overnight, completely uncovered and in a single layer on cooling racks. It’s only then that they become fully crisp. I know, I know, having the patience is tough. But trust me, you will enjoy them more the second day than the first.
So, to all my pizzelle-loving friends…consider this my Christmas present to you. Enjoy!
Disclosure: Many thanks to our friends at Bob’s Red Mill for sponsoring this post.
These crisp Italian waffle cookies are a tradition for many families at Christmas. Low carb and grain free!
- 4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp almond extract or 1/2 tsp anise flavouring
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In a high powered blender, combine cream cheese, eggs, almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, milk, and extract. Blend until smooth.
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Heat pizzelle press according to manufacturer's directions. Grease only if necessary (the one I have is very non-stick and needed no oil).
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Pour a few tablespoons of batter into each section of the press, just behind the center of the flower or waffle pattern (this helps when you close the press because the batter gets pushed forward). It may take you a few tries to get the amount of batter and the placement just right.
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Close the lid and cook until just becoming golden brown. You can peek at them and see if they are cooked yet and then recluse the lid. They usually take less than a minute.
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Remove from press and place in a single layer on a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter. Let them cool completely on the racks overnight for a crispier cookie.
Serves 12. Each serving has 2.01 g NET CARBS.
Food energy: 122kcal
Total fat: 9.27g
Calories from fat: 83
Cholesterol: 72mg
Carbohydrate: 3.86g
Total dietary fiber: 1.85g
Protein: 5.01g
Used to make this recipe:
Allison says
Oh boy I bought a Pizzelle maker last year!! One of my favorite’s!
Chris says
I totally agree with you about Pizzelles. They are boring! But it sure is a pretty cookie. Question: if they are soft and malleable, can this cookie be used to make canoles? Now that is a cookie I miss! All that creamy goodness – YUM!
Love love love all of your recipes and blog. I am a true follower of your work!
Carolyn says
Yes, you should be able to roll it into a tube right after removing it from the iron.
Chris says
I borrowed my mother-in-law’s pizzelle maker and I just made these yesterday, they are absolutely wonderful and I’m not a pizzelle lover but I am now! I am going to make another batch very soon. I LOVE this cookie!!! Thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Ranita says
THANK YOU!! Just when I was considering selling my Pizzelle maker~
Karen says
NOOOOO. Pizzelles are not boring… they have a subtle, delicate flavor and are good coffee dunkers. Us Italians love our pizzelles. Also, I don’t mean to offend, but no self-respecting Italian would use a pizzelle to make cannoli shells. It’s just not done. You CAN do it, but please do not call it a cannoli. Not.Even.Close. ;))
Carolyn says
Sorry but when it comes to low carbing, we do what we’ve got to do. It may not be conventional cannoli, but if it quacks like a duck, I will call it a duck. Good thing I have nothing to lose because I am not Italian! 🙂
Leslie says
As a faithful follower, I love your blog, Carolyn! You are so inspiring. I wouldn’t, however, think of these as only Christmas seasonal. Think ice cream cones, cannoli, etc. Or for a change up in the lunchbox, make the batter savory and stuff with cream cheese, green olives, and ham (or whatever stuffing floats your fancy) for a cannoli ‘sandwich’ of sorts. I just see so many possibilities to this seemingly seasonal treat.
Carolyn says
To be honest, I already was thinking of those things but that was before I purchased the pizzelle maker and tried them out. Now that I own one, I do have some plans for it.
Christine Wood says
These have been a staple for the last 2 years for my kiddo on the ketogenic diet. I’m not even sure how I came to own a pizzelle maker – garage sale find probably. We use a different basic batter (mac nuts, eggs, butter or oil) to get 4:1. She loves them flavored with vanilla stevia or english toffee stevia (we use sweetleaf brand). Sometimes she piles on whipped cream. We’ve done many things with these … best of all we can make a bunch. They’re really portable for on the go, school lunches, etc.
Carolyn says
Ohhh, I’d love to try the macadamia nut version. Will have to do that very soon.
Toria says
I LOVE your website and recipes, Carolyn! I can hardly wait to try this new recipe. Christine, could you post your macadamia nut version too?
Sarah G says
Haha, in my high-carb days I’ve pretty much only eaten pizzelle if there were no other sweets to choose instead. However, they are quite pretty! I think my kids would like them a lot too.
Heather says
Yum! I used to love these. Just when I thought I didn’t need any more appliances…
Lorraine says
Thank you! These are my one cheat at Christmas, my Mom always makes them (I think every Italian mother makes them!). She always puts powdered sugar on them but I have powdered erithrytol that has the same texture that I use for French toast that will work just as well.
Can’t wait to try them!
Deb says
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, thanks! ( My Italian born husband enjoys a pizzelle rolled up for cannoli )
Deb E says
My pizzelle maker is 27 years old and rarely used so I need to fire it up this holiday. I love anise and always have lots on hand for flavoring. I do love pizzelles.
Kay says
Can they be poured like pancake batter if you don’t have a press?
Carolyn says
Sure, but I am not sure they will get properly crisp.
maria says
Hii, Carolyn
I just wrote you a day or two ago about how to make low carb pizelles. And you had just done so!
THANK YOU.
Maria (off to buy cream cheese, etc, and pulling pizzelle iron out of the closet)
Carolyn says
Hi Maria! I saw your email and was going to respond with this link but glad you found it on your own.
Maria brent says
Merry Chritmas!
Carolyn, I cannot thank you enough for make it doable for me: the low carb life and therefore increased health and wellbeing. I get to be low carb AND have goodies for friends over for tea. It was Jan 2012 that I made your tea cake—my first venture into almond flour and low carb baking. It is a big thing to tell you: you have helped many people be healthier! I imagine that you know that….but maybe you don’t take in the awesomeness of it. Thank you, and best wishes to your family and you.
Maria
Carolyn says
Maria, thank you SO much for your sweet note. That is so lovely to hear and keeps me motivated doing what I do!
Maria brent says
I forgot to write that I made the pizzelles this evening. The flavor is good, and the batter worked as well as any other pizzelle batter (always tricky for me). I await their crisping up over night.
I also made your walnut maple biscotti. I leave out the butter and add an extra egg. They are really very good. A staple for us now—and my friends who are not low carb request them.
I have started to use xylitol recently rather than Swerve or eriythritol–i now xylitol is slightly more carby—but I think the flavor is worth it. And the almond flour, etc, does make a heftier, more satisfying goodie, and therefore i am happy to eat only one or two, so i am not concerned about the few extra carbs.
Good food makes people happy.
I just read this new mystery called Recipes for Love and Murder by Sally Andrew. It made me happy too.
Maria
dina says
oh man, i’m italian and really miss pizzelles. thanks for posting this!
and yes, it is definitely not italian to roll them up for cannolis or ice cream cones, but the texture and flavor does lend itself to that.
ANGELA C says
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Sonya Johnston says
I’ve not had any of your recipes disappoint! Just ordered a cute mini pizelle maker (makes 3′ cookies). Can’t wait to give it a try.
Nicole says
Your pizzelles look amazing! I’m looking forward to baking pizzelles again 😀
Sandy. says
Is there an alternative to Swervesweetner?
Carolyn says
Use whatever sweetener you prefer.
Lorrie Thomas says
Will liquid stevia work or does it need to be a powdered sweetner to come out right?
erica says
Thank you for this recipe inspiration. I really wanted a low carb krumkake recipe, so I used yours to start with, put 1/2t cardamon and 1tsp vanilla and baked on a krumkake iron (about 1&1/2 TBS on my villa ware iron) and rolled and am letting cool. Tasty! Thank you again for doing so much of the upfront work as I am a super busy mom who also works outside the home.
Lulu says
I just purchased a used pizzelle maker just to make these!
How can you say they are boring? I’ve not had Italian ones, only a Belgian version with caramel sandwiched between. But online I’ve seen chocolate, lemon, and even an orange rum version in my pizzelle manual. People use them molded as elegant bowls for mousse, rolled and filled with flavoured creams or mascarpone, dipped in chocolate, or decorated like sugar cookies.
That’s why I thought it was worth the purchase (and space). I’m very excited! Thank you!
LIRAZ says
HI CAROLYN!
I LOVE ALL YOUR RECIPE. I JUST SOW THIS RECIPE.
I HAVE AN ICECREAM MAKER XCAN I USED THIS RECIPE
TO MALR AN ICECREAM CONE’S
IF I WANT BROWN CONE OR PIZZELE WHAT SOULD I DO
THANY YOU SO MUCH.
Carolyn says
I don’t really know what to do for a brown cone…add some cocoa powder maybe?
Pam says
Thank you! I have a Belgian waffle cookie recipe I was wanting to make compliant but I believe I can use your pizelle recipe with a few tweaks!
Jody says
Not sure what I did wrong but these stuck so bad to my iron and no amount of oiling seemed to help
Carolyn says
Someone else had this happen too. Might be the type of press? I wish I knew.
Julie says
The only suggestion I have is to bake the pizzelles at a low temperature to make them crispier and crunchier like traditional pizzelles after removing from the press. My pizzelles were soft and moist and lacked a crunch even after cooling a while. I chose 200 degrees, and left them on the cooling rack to bake for approximately 10 min and then let them sit in the oven for a bit with the heat turned off. Great recipe and now I don’t have to go without my favorite Christmas treat.
Gary says
Followed the recipe exactly. First batch had
to be chiseled off the iron with a metal
scraper just like cement. Dumped the rest
of the batter in the trash. Took most
of the time cleaning the iron. Thanks
anyway.
Carolyn says
Then it’s probably your press. I’ve made these many times without issue. sorry it didn’t work for you.
Mchelle says
What can you use instead of almond milk in this recipe
Carolyn says
A mixture of milk and cream.
Marcia says
OK you non-pizzelle lovers, if you don’t like them because of the subtle flavor, try dipping them in melted 85% dark chocolate, ala fondue. They are simply fabulous that way!
Jesslyn says
I replace almond milk with coconut milk, it smell really good but it never turn crisp after a day!
Carolyn says
Yes, that’s probably because coconut milk has a much higher fat content.
Peg says
I make these at the holidays and use Egg Nog flavoring (King Arthur Flour), they are amazing.
Linda says
What would the reason be to use Cream cheese? Can there be a substitute?
Carolyn says
It helps them hold together.
Lisa V. says
Typically pizelle batter is made with butter.
Would the proportions of the flour need to change to get the same consistency?
Carolyn says
Honestly, I have only ever made them this way. I recommend it. “Traditional” doesn’t always work when it comes to low carb and high fat. Cream cheese has stabilizers in it which help keep the cookies together.
Linda says
Is there a substitute for the cream cheese???
Carolyn says
No, not in this recipe.
Jan says
Nice recipe! I have used a pizelle maker to make crepes and manicotti for years. Rarely for pizelle.
Thanks for this recipe…will try it — need a substitute for cream cheese (lactose). Would love any suggestions.
Jan
Carolyn says
You could try Kite Hill Almond Milk cream cheese but I cannot promise it will work.
DB says
Sadly, me too. I will try again, as I have made many of Carolyn recipes, and they have neve failed. It has to be on my side. On a side note, I just made pancakes out of the remaining batter. No reason to waste great ingredients.
Carolyn says
Sadly what? I am not sure what this is in response to but if you clarify, I will try to help.
Marie says
I am so happy to have found this! I have been a long-time reader of your blog, so I don’t know why I didn’t think a low carb pizzelle recipe would exist – I should have just come here first instead of following the Google rabbit trail. 😁 Low carb stroopwafels here I come!! – from a Dutchie
Carolyn says
Let me know how they turn out!
Mae says
Would using coconut sugar work instead of sweetner?
Carolyn says
No not in this recipe.
tara cattani says
Can you make chocolate Keto pizzelles.
Denise says
Hello All, I can’t have alcohol sugar so I did use coconut sugar in my batch with a little stevia. Turned out great. I love them.
I have a very old pizzelle iron,I had issues with them sticking but found butter worked the best instead of putting oil on the iron.
Thank you for the recipe!! so excited I can eat pizzelles again!
Carolyn says
So glad it worked!
Rena'te says
Please tell me what the reason is for using almond milk vs. milk?
Carolyn says
Cow’s milk is much higher carb than almond milk. 12g per cup rather than 2g per cup.
Coo says
WOO HOO I’m buying a pizzelle maker! I’m making cannoli’s with Keto ricotta cream and sugar free chocolate chips! Or Anise flavored cookies? Or hazelnut cream filled cookie tubes? Or Pizzelle drizzle with SF ganache or melted chocolate sprinkled with pistachios? How about cones for Keto ice cream! Oh, yeah!
Les says
Can I substitute for the coconut flour? eg oat flour
Carolyn says
You can certainly try!
Keto In Cucina says
Carolyn I’m a huge fan of yours!!! I love your recipes. Pizzelles are a regular cookie in our pantry, traditionally we make them all the time during the holidays .. they are a great snack with that espresso in the afternoon. But, I am not a huge fan of cream cheese. What is the reason for the CC? Can these be made without it? Do you have recipe that does not take any cream cheese? These are not usually made with CC so I’m wondering can it be substituted with something else?
Carolyn says
There is no sub here. When making my crepes, I noticed how crispy they got around the edges and cream cheese really helps hold them together.So I tried it with the pizzelles and it worked as well.
Jenny says
This recipe did not work out for me. I followed it exactly and it stuck and fell apart in my pizelle maker. I tried oiling it and the same thing happened . In an effort to salvage the batter I tried to make pancakes. It worked out ok but with a lot of effort. Not sure what went wrong…
Carolyn says
Honestly very hard to say without being in your kitchen with you…
Carol says
Wondering if those that are having pizzelle sticking difficulties are using uncoated plates. I have used uncoated pizzelle maker and those without sticking issues use a nonstick pizzele lmaker. I use one without nonstick for classic pizzelles without difficulty but there’s so much butter in classic pizzelles….not so with this recipe..Carol
carol walter says
Can these be made without a pizeele maker? I used to buy them at Ross with only three carbs in the regular ones and now I can’t get them anymore. They were such a nice treat. Lo carb is even better.
I think my friend has a pizelle maker. I guess I could ask her if we could have a cooking day at here house.
Carolyn says
I don’t see a good way of making pizzele without a maker. Sorry
Carolew says
You can use marscapone instead of cream cheese. It’s not as sweet, but it’s soft and mixes well with low carb recipes.
Abel says
I have used this to make low-carb cheese chips. I use thinly sliced provolone sprinkled with with everything but the bagel (feel free to try your favorite cheese with your favorite seasonings) cook them until slightly brown. Serve them with a low-carb chip dip!
I am also wondering if I could use a cornmeal extract to create a tortilla for tostadas. Or maybe garlic for a thin crust pizza. Problem is I hate to cook or create my own recipes! So if you ever find yourself with nothing better to do… hint, hint, hint! I so prefer your recipes any day!