Who doesn’t love cannoli? These classic Italian cookies are traditionally made with fried pastry shells filled with a whipped ricotta filling. They’re delicious, but we generally don’t do a lot of deep-frying in our household. My husband grew up in an Italian-American family, and they have a slightly different tradition, making the shells from the thin, rose window-like cookies called pizzelle, quickly rolled into tubes as they come hot off the pizzelle iron. The result is every bit as delicious, yet far easier and less messy to make. If you want to make them extra Christmassy, cap the ends with red and green sprinkles or candied fruit.

Left flat, the pizzelle are in themselves delightful, light and crisp. Dusted with confectioner’s sugar, they make a great holiday cookie.

Pizzelle Cannoli

Makes 30 pizzelle.

For the shells:

3 eggs
1-3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter (1/4 lb.), melted and cooled
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp anise, almond, or lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat eggs and sugar together until smooth. Add cooled melted butter, vanilla, and anise. Sift flour and baking powder together and add to egg mixture. Stir until just incorporated. Batter will be stiff enough to be dropped by spoon, and can be refrigerated to be used at a later time.

To make the pizzelle, drop one tablespoon of batter just behind the center of each side of the iron. Slowly lower the lid, allowing the batter to spread. Cook approximately 30 seconds to a minute, until the batter is just beginning to color; it will continue to brown as it sets. Some of your pizzelle will not be perfectly centered on the pattern, and you may end up with excess around the edges. That’s OK — you can break off those bits later (and eat them).

As soon as they come off the iron, select the larger, more perfect ones and immediately begin to roll them gently with your fingertips. Don’t use too much pressure — you just want to make the opposite edges overlap by a half inch or so. Hold in place just until they’ve set enough not to open themselves up. You can set them seam-side down with a fork resting on top as well.

The pizzelle and cannoli shells can be made at least a day ahead; they hold up pretty well in a sealed but not quite airtight container.

For the filling:

2 lb ricotta cheese
1-1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
4 tsp vanilla

Optional inclusions:

1/4 c. candied citron or orange peel
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pistachios
1/4 c. chopped dark chocolate

Drain ricotta in a fine sieve or cheesecloth for a few hours, refrigerated. Beat ricotta cheese in a stand until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat or whip until stiff. Fold in additions if desired. Chill at least overnight; two days is better.

Spoon filling into shells. Alternatively, pipe in with piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner clipped off.

Serve immediately.