Pizzelle Cookie

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 1

Iiiiit’s advent season! And this year it’s already bringing me a lot of joy. We had to say goodbye to our nearly-16-year-old pup the week before Thanksgiving, and the grief has been tough. We’re riding it out, but yeah… tough. She was my first dog as an adult and had been with me since I was 24 (I’m 38 now). Life without her is just not as bright.

Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to the festive fun of advent season. Michelle was my homemade calendar swap partner this year, and rather than label/number her teas, she suggested a random pull — with the instruction to choose another if the randomly selected tea didn’t bring joy. Well, I love that approach! Happily, my first random pull did bring joy: this lovely cookie-flavored black blend.

I am not Italian, but I did grow up in a state with a large Italian-American population, so pizzelle cookies were a staple of the holidays for me! My Portuguese grandma had a pizzelle iron and always made them for her annual Christmas party. I bet she still has the iron, actually — maybe I could veganize the recipe.

Pizzelles are very delicately flavored, in my recollection, but this blend does them justice, thanks largely to the anise and vanilla. It would’ve been easy to be heavy-handed with the anise seeds, but the blend has just the right amount. I’m not getting much orange, but that’s OK — I actually don’t remember tasting orange in the pizzelles I’ve had.

All in all, this is a tasty, simple, gently holiday-inspired blend that brought back some lovely childhood memories for me. A good way to start the advent season. :) Thank you, Michelle!