8 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup anise liqueur
1/3 cup milk
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour

Equipment needed:
A pizzelle baker

Preheat pizzelle baker.

Using an electric blender beat eggs. Add oil. Mix.

Add milk, anise liqueur, sugar and mix the ingredients very well (an electric blended will do just nicely).

Add baking powder.

Slowly add flour -- the batter should be a bit thicker than a pancake mix.

Drop a tablespoon of batter or so onto each pizzelle iron (most pizzelle bakers have two irons).

Bake each pizzelle 2 to 3 minutes or until it is golden (Need to check for the right color).

Cool.

The pizzelle should be crispy -- some prefer them hard and crispy, and others prefer them soft and crispy. Generally, the thinner they are (the less batter one uses) the crispier they are. Also, some prefer their pizzelle a nice golden color and others prefer them golden brown.

My mother varies the batter -- uses the touchy-feelie method of cooking -- meaning there is no recipe (Not really!). I've seen her use more flour, less flour, more sugar, less sugar and so on. It depends partly on her mood and on the weather. Nonetheless, my mother's pizzelle (In Casacalenda, Molise they're known as "osti" or "hosts" because they look like the Roman Catholics' communion hosts) come up consistently good, how she manages it I don't know. Store-bought pizzelle are consistent in color and consistent in flavor -- consistently mediocre if you ask me. Lucky are those who have a pizzelle baker, or better yet, have an old-fashioned Nonna or Mom who still enjoy making pizzelle cookies in their kitchens. I took the photo attached to this recipe, but the photo is of my mother's pizzelle, not mine (I don't own a pizzelle baker).

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