Pistachio Cookies

I wanted to do something for St. Patrick’s Day, although having the holiday on the weekend is a little bit different. I’m not one to go to a bar all that much anyway unless they also have great food. My husband and I went out on St. Patrick’s Day to an Irish place once and it was absolutely insane, and we’re not interested in doing that again.

These cookies get their green color (somewhat) from the pistachios, which are tinged green. If you don’t care about the color of the cookies, you can keep them as is, but I did add some green food color to enhance the green. The icing is a parchment color, so I decided to add some green sprinkles to gild the lily even more. Those aren’t necessary but they added some fun.

These cookies are simple to put together, and just need to chill for the shortest amount of time. They are very similar to a Russian teacake/Mexican wedding cookie except for the inclusion of pistachios. The icing is quite different, a browned butter powdered sugar icing that is very flavorful. I liked the icing thinner, so I added more cream than the recipe specifies. These are tasty little cookies, not surprising as Russian teacakes are one of my favorites! I don’t think these are going to last very long!

Pistachio Cookies
130 grams pistachios
1 cup butter, room temperature
90 grams powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
281 grams flour
1-2 drops green food coloring

4 tablespoons butter, cut in pieces
120 grams powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk/cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Place the (shelled) pistachios in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped and you have about 3/4 cup finely chopped pistachios. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract on medium until creamy. Gradually stir in the flour, mixing on low and the stir in the chopped pistachios and food coloring. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill 30-60 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 14 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the icing: in a small saucepan, place the butter. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The butter will melt and then foam and then will begin to brown and smell nutty. This will take about 5 minutes. Once browned, immediately remove from the heat. Cool 5 minutes and then add the remaining icing ingredients: powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. If too thick, add additional milk, or if too thin add additional powdered sugar.

Dip the cookies in the icing or drizzle onto the cookies. Allow the icing to set before serving the cookies.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes