The Matcha Dessert That Wouldn’t Leave Me Alone

Matcha Pizzelle, Black Berry Mashmallow, Raspberry Jam

Jun 18, 2025

This is just a short story maybe a slight lesson on taking an idea and bringing it to life in ways you weren’t prepared for. The recipe will be in a separate article- subscribe to get the heads up.

bshnuez

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Buried in my Mom’s garage

I was cleaning out boxes in my mom’s garage—junk untouched since the ‘90s. Her garage is basically an antique store for no reason. You never know what you’ll find in there. The coolest kitchen appliances I own come from dusty-forgotten-boxes in her garage. On this day I discovered a Pizzelle Maker at the bottom of an old plastic tub.

I walk inside

“Hey, have you ever used this?”
“A couple times,” she shrugged.

Well, Sorry Mom. This one’s mine now.

(For the record: I don’t think this thing had been plugged in since 1996.)

I didn’t even really know what a Pizzelle was. So I looked it up and it turns out they’re one of the oldest cookies in the world. From the Abruzzo region of Italy. Not just a snack but a ceremonial dessert. Wafer cookies stamped with family crests or religious symbols, made for weddings, holidays. The name comes from pizze, meaning flat and round.

Not what I expected but was now very intrigued with my new toy.

The drink that inspired me

Before I found this Pizzelle Maker I had recently been exposed to matcha, and if you know me - then you know I don’t drink tea or coffee. I’m weird. Matcha wasn’t even on my radar—until the baristas at Satellite Coffee Bar bullied me into trying this banana-cold-foam matcha latte.

Pillowy banana cold foam and the sweetened matcha. Safe to say this drink may have altered my brain chemistry, permanently. I swear iPhones are spying on us because later that day I was scrolling and saw a matcha cookie on my feed. Now I was influenced and I too- started thinking about the idea of a Matcha cookie. Within the week I bought some matcha. Admittedly, it wasn’t high-grade—I just wanted something to mess around with. The moment I found the Pizzelle Maker everything clicked.

MATCHA PIZZELLE - My concept was starting to form.

Matcha shares that same ceremonial quality as the pizzelle. Different histories, different cultures—but both made to mark a moment. That stuck out to me. I love making food that is intentional and nostalgic. I am so inspired by moments where my creativity is challenged. Seeing a seed you plant blossom to life is special.

This Idea Stared Into My Soul

There’s a piece of printer paper on my fridge—my Idea Board. Held up by magnetic cats. It’s hoarding a Sharpie list of dishes, rotating month to month. Some ideas stick. Some die in the sheets.

But this one? It wouldn’t leave me alone.

Obviously drawn to the idea of this Matcha Pizzelle, I felt like I was at a good starting point. The idea wasn’t complete yet and I couldn’t just serve a matcha cookie. I NEEDED MORE! That all changed one night when we had a bonfire in the backyard. I was eating a Smore with a pink marshmallow. Music bumping in the distance, orange glow on my skin, flame dancing— I was mesmerized. After crushing a few smores I looked down and realized this was my inspiration for the next phase of the dessert.

A few months go by and every day I had to walk past the Idea Board in all its glory. I see all the dishes I crossed off the list or the ones I’ve failed to make yet. There was one dish that stuck out to me and it was the Matcha Pizzelle. Like a seed that got planted we just needed time to sprout. A quiet kind of momentum. I will always pursue things at my own pace but this felt like I was being taunted. Eventually I had to go for it right? That is half the battle taking the first step. You learn more just by trying.

CHALLENGES I WAS WORRIED ABOUT

Ensuring the cookie wouldn't turn brown during the cooking process
Transferring the marshmallow while keeping it intact
Matching the size of the cookie to the circumference of the marshmallow
Making sure the jam acted like glue so nothing slid around

It’s not about being fancy. It’s about building something that feels good to eat. As if I was a kid, younger me would love it.

This is just version one. Tweak it, make it yours, or pick up where I left off. If you don’t have a pizzelle maker, that’s okay—try a thin matcha cookie.

If you learned anything it’s that good things take time, sometimes our ideas need room to breathe and grow organically. It’s important to just try things and be okay with failure. It’s what makes us better.