Gluten-Free Fat-Free Pumpkin Spice Pizzelle

It is November, time for a Fat-Free Pumpkin Spice recipe! However, some will not be so thrilled. My son dislikes the “Pumpkin Spice Season”, it has become a family joke with him, and frankly where I learned the term, “Basic Bitch”.

I did a bit of web skiing (I am not a surfer, it snows here in Idaho) to gain some “Pumpkin Spice” history and to gather some meaningless social phenomenon facts about the fad that began  in the early 2000’s. My skiing led me to a humorous article by Melissa McEwen, entitled: The Dark And Murky History Of Pumpkin Spice, which please read here . Omg, her blog voiced the thoughts in my brain so I had to bring it to you along with a few of her other choice links. Pumpkin Spice the heck out of yourselves, peeps!

Where did “PSL” phenom, start? With the advent of the Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte of course! To me, this fad has it’s basic roots in Italian goodies! I see: Espresso, from which the first “PSL” was first born…which would bring us to coffee…and then an Italian cookie to go with the coffee…and so, naturally, Pizzelle! Oh yeah, it’s an L.A. Freeway inside my brain, folks!

One more sidesplitting read, albeit a bit rough for the timid: It’s Gourd Season…

Enough with the drivel, cut to the chase, the recipe already, right?! Okay, What’s a pizelle?

It’s one of these…

…and you will need one of these to cook the cookie…

My family has been making these yummy tidbits for years, but not this flavor and not fat-free. This version has been tweaked fat-free, gluten free, and all spiced up for the holidays!

A Pizzelle is a traditional Italian, only-on-special-occasion-cookie, which becomes understandable when we consider how it used to be prepared prior the advent of the electric pizzelle iron. These tasty cookies were made one at a time, over an open flame with one of these…

…ugh, yeah, like I have nothing else to do…

As a recipe developer/designer my investigations lead me on some interesting journeys, as you can see from the “web skiing” above, (remember, I am a mountain girl that doesn’t surf, again, it snows here in Idaho). In my research and searched out other “PSL” Pizzelle recipes to address the challenges of using pumpkin in a pizzelle recipe. I found that even with butter or oil in the recipe, the pumpkin wreaked havoc on the consistency of the cookie. Remarks on these other blogged recipes: the cookies were “bendable and spongy”, not a good texture for a pizzelle. Last and sadly noted, user would not cook that recipe again due to lack of flavor, not enough spices.

The recipe development fairy smiled on me favorably and threw down a ten pound bag of her sparkly recipe fairy sprinkles on this one, as it is not only fat-free but gluten-free as well, and imparts the perfect texture! It just turned out that way, lucky for us! The recipe produces a crisp, light, flavorful pizzelle. This combination of ingredients, plus ample cook time to a golden color, will achieve the perfect Fat-Free, Gluten-Free, Pumpkin Spice Pizzelle.

You must:

• Use the liquor or results will not be achieved. This is an authentic Italian ingredient.  The alcohol content burns out while cooking.
• Add all of the spices listed for the perfect spicy flavor. Yes, I know, some of the spices are a repeat.
• Use a pizzelle iron, waffle irons do not work. You may purchase an iron on: Amazon, Ebay, or most quality kitchen appliance websites. Link to mine on Amazon.
• Cook them for at least two and a half minutes, depending on your pizzelle iron. After the cookie has completely cooled, if it turns out floppy, spongy, or not crisp, increase cooking time by 10 second intervals until results are crispy after cooling. I confess that I have returned cookies to the iron for extra cook time during the creation of this recipe. Lol, go ahead, it works!
• FYI batter video here.

Gluten-Free Fat-Free Pumpkin Spiced Pizelle

3/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (just pumpkin not pie filling)
1/2 cup hazelnut liquor (no substitutes, I used DeKyper brand)

1 1/4 cups rice flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon ground pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1) Preheat pizzelle iron.

2) Beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, beat again until frothy and medium stiff. Add liquor. Beat again to incorporate.

3) Mix together remaining dry ingredients, blend into egg mixture until incorporated and batter is smooth.

4) Spoon batter, 2 tablespoonfuls at a time, amount depends on the size of your iron, (I use a coffee measuring spoon which is exactly 2 tablespoons.) onto the iron.

           *Note: Spray the faces of the iron with a bit of cooking spray if iron start to stick.

5) Close lid, cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, depending on the temperature of your iron. Use tongs or a dinner fork to remove the cookie from the iron. Place on a cooling rack to harden.

*The cookies are moldable just after removing from the iron and can be shaped into bowls, cones, or my favorite: cannoli shells.

Makes approximately 36 cookies.

Nutritional Data
36 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 48
Total Fat 0.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 13 mg
Potassium 25 mg
Total Carbohydrate 8 g
Dietary Fiber 0.2 g
Sugars 3.1 g
Protein 1.2 g

Happy Thanksgiving!

Live well, eat well, enjoy the holidays!
Epicuriously yours,

Melinda