Amy's Shortbread Cookies aka Pistachio Shortbread

The days leading up to the holidays were so hectic this year that I was not able to make gifts of cookies for all of my neighbors before I traveled back to the midwest to visit family and friends.  Things happen for a reason and there is a silver lining in every cloud or so some say.  Fortunately for my neighbors I have decided that the time has come for me to start a new tradition, that of delivering cookies to celebrate the new year.  This new tradition will serve to minimize the guilt of not being organized for the holidays.

Everyone, well almost everyone, gets cookies for Christmas. But how many people do you know getting cookies for the new year? Inspired by all of the snow on the ground here on the east coast I thought the perfect 'new year' cookie to make would be the white chocolate dipped pistachio shortbread cookies sprinkled with even more pistachios, otherwise known as Amy's Shortbread Cookies.

The recipe calls for room temperature unsalted butter.  I like to take my butter out of the refrigerator the night before I am going to bake as then I know it will be room temperature perfect.  One of the many things learned from watching Ina Garten on television.

Yes, I know the cost of pistachios are a little high these days, but Trader Joe's always seems to make these nuts affordable.  The recipe calls for a cup of pistachios.  For the cookie dough you will want to finely chop or grind 1/2 cup of the pistachios in a food processor to make it easier to roll out the dough, saving the other 1/2 cup for decorating the tops of the cookies.

This recipe requires sifting the flour and salt.  Because I use Kosher salt in this recipe I just sift the flour.     Don't skip the sifting.  If my sifter isn't readily available, I often use a fine strainer to sift my flour.

The dough comes together really nicely.  Of the many things that I love about making this cookie is that it doesn't require the added step of chilling the dough!  I generally roll my cookies out to a 1/4 inch as I like a thicker cookie and one that will stand up well to dipping in chocolate.

 
Over the years I have collected a variety of new and antique cookie cutters, tending to use the antique ones more often.  For this recipe I used one of my antique cookie cutters with a crimped edge and shaped somewhat like a leaf. There is something about a crimped edge cookie that gives it a bakery perfect look.  I discovered over the holidays that SurLaTable makes a graduated set of crimped edge cookie cutters that almost replicate my antique ones.  Thought I would share this, just in case this recipe caused you to go on the hunt for a crimped edge cookie cutter.  For those of you not as obsessive as I am when making someone's recipe for the first time, I envy you.

I like to use the Ghiradelli White Chocolate Candy Making and and Dipping Bar (2.5 lbs). It is sold at Sam's Club during the holidays, but you can always find it on Amazon.  There is enough chocolate in this bar for at least four or five batches of Amy's Shortbread Cookies.  And trust me, once you make the first batch of these cookies you will become addicted to them using up the chocolate in no time at all.  But feel free to use any white chocolate you have had success using.  I would just encourage you to not use the Almond Bark that they sell in the grocery stores for this recipe.

If you let the cookies cool completely before dipping them you will minimize any breakage when dipping. They cool quickly, but during cooler weather I will often put the tray of cookies out on the back porch to speed the cooling up a little.

Each time I make these cookies I dip them a little differently.  Sometimes I dip only half of the cookie and other times I dip the entire cookie in the melted chocolate. I actually like tasting the chocolate with every bite of the cookie so they are usually covered in white chocolate.  The combination of the shortbread, the saltiness of the pistachios, and the decadence of the white chocolate make these cookies simply divine.

The chocolate dries pretty quickly on the cookie so I usually dip about 4 or 5 cookies at a time and then immediately sprinkle on the chopped pistachios to ensure they adhere to the chocolate.  You can sprinkle pistachios over the entire cookie or over just part of the cookie, the possibilities for finishing these cookies are endless!

Sometimes I arrange my cookies on a platter, sometimes I put them in a cellophane bag tied with a beautiful ribbon, and then sometimes I layer them in boxes.  The Martha Stewart cookie boxes sold at Michaels are great and relatively inexpensive presentation containers.  For the size cookie I make, this box holds a perfect dozen cookies.  However you choose to present these cookies to your family and friends will really not matter.  Because once they see and taste them, well let's just say you will forever be remembered.

Recipe 

Amy's Shortbread Cookies aka Pistachio Shortbread

Makes 1 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on the size and shape of the cookie cutter.

Updated November 2021 

(Note: I made larger than usual cookies when updating this post. I generally use a 2 to 2 1/2" cookie cutter. Stars and hearts are some of my favorite cookie shapes, although I love using my collection of antique cookie cutters when making these).

Ingredients

2 cups (260 g) all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature (recommend using a European style butter)

1/2 cup (60g) confectionary sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 cup (63 g) of finely chopped and/or ground pistachios (for the cookie dough)

1/2 cup (63g) of coarsely chopped pistachios (for the top of the cookie)

6 to 8 ounces (171g-228g) white chocolate, chopped and melted 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Finely chop or grind 1/2 cup of pistachios and set aside.

3. Sift the flour and salt into a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

4. Place butter and confectionary sugar in a mixer.  Using a paddle attachment, mix until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

5.  Mix in the vanilla.

6.  Add flour/salt mixture and finely chopped/ground pistachios to the butter mixture. Mix until dough sticks together.

7. Divide the dough in half.  On a floured surface roll out dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter of choice, cut out shapes in the dough and carefully place cookies onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

8. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.  If making large or smaller sized cookies, adjust the time accordingly.

9.  Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before dipping in chocolate.

10.  Place the chopped white chocolate in top of a double boiler. Alternately melt the white chocolate in the microwave.

11. Coarsely chop 1/2 cup of pistachios. Put in a bowl and set aside.

12.  Dip the cooled cookies into chocolate or spoon melted chocolate over the cookies. Place chocolate covered/dipped cookies on a sheet of parchment paper.  Sprinkle with chopped pistachios before chocolate hardens.

13.  Allow the chocolate to completely set before removing from parchment paper to serve or package. 

14. Store cookies in a tightly sealed container. If well packaged or stored, shortbread cookies will be good for at least two weeks.

Note: I used either the Ghirardelli White Chocolate Melting Disks or the white chocolate disks available from Graham's Chocolate in Geneva, IL.

Well it's time for me to walk across the snow and through the opening in the stone fence to deliver the new year's gift of cookies to my neighbors.  I must admit something. There really doesn't need to be a holiday or special occasion to make these cookies as they will make any occasion special.  

Every time I make these cookies I am thankful that Amy, a relative of my best friend Donna, shared this recipe with us years ago. In all of cookie recipes that I have read or found over the years I have never found a version even close to this one.  This is a cookie recipe I treasure.  I hope you will too.

Pancakes for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

Growing up I preferred eating a bologna sandwich to eating eggs, oatmeal, french toast or pancakes for breakfast.  I have always wondered why it had taken me until my adult years to develop an appreciation for breakfast foods, particularly pancakes. Lots of theories around this wondering of mine. But once I developed an appreciation for pancakes, the thrill has been in discovering restaurants where great ones are made. Walker Brothers in Illinois, Keys Cafe in Minneapolis, and Clinton Street Bakery in New York all serve pancakes worthy of a road trip as well as the patience to wait in long lines.  But one should not have to drive or wait in line to eat great pancakes. Life is too short.

It was my sister who shared a pancake recipe with me that I think is amazing.  You have to know that I am often skeptical when my sister gives a recipe her rave reviews.  It has everything to do with the competitiveness between us.  So it was one lucky day when she came across the pancake recipe from "The Pancake Handbook: Specialities form Bette's Oceanview Diner" by Steve Siegelman, Bette Kroening and Sue Conley reprinted in a local newspaper.  And it was an even luckier day when I tasted them.  Just one bite and I was in pancake heaven.

It is really a simple recipe. With the exception of buttermilk most of the ingredients are usually in one's cabinets.  However, this is a recipe that will want you to make buttermilk a staple your refrigerator.

No sifting is required of the dry ingredients.  No mixer is required in the making of the batter.  A bowl or two, measuring cup, measuring spoons, whisk, spoon, spatula, and griddle pan or non-stick frying pan is all you need to make this recipe.  And if you don't have a griddle pan, this recipe may inspire you to buy one.  

The mixture is supposed to be slightly lumpy when all of the ingredients are mixed together.  Too much over mixing is not a good thing with this recipe. Once the batter is mixed you are supposed to let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.  Patience has never been one of my virtues so anything requiring wait time has to be good for me to persist. But then 10 minutes isn't really a long time to wait for something so delicious.  And if you are just making this recipe for yourself or one other person the batter can be covered and put in the refrigerator overnight with great results.

These are thick puffy yet light pancakes.  For those of you who prefer your pancakes flat, this recipe is not for you.  On the griddle, they remained fluffed as they transform in beautifully golden colored pancakes.

I am purist when it comes to eating pancakes.  No syrup, only butter.  But for those of you who love either or both, use them as sparingly or liberally to suit your tastes, but promise me you will first take a bite of the pancake before you pour on any syrup.  You might just turn into a pancake purist like me.

Recipe (updated February 2023)

Pancakes for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

Makes 10-12 good sized pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons (30g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk

4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Serving options: Room temperature butter, maple syrup, jam, preserves

Directions

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl lightly beat eggs then stir in buttermilk and butter.

3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients stirring just to blend.  Remember the batter will be slightly lumpy and quite thick.  If you want blueberry pancakes, this would be time to add them in.

4. Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes. 

5. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or heavy non-stick frying pan.  Using either large ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measure pour batter on the griddle.

6. Cook the pancakes over medium-low 2-3 minutes per side before flipping.  The bottom should be lightly browned or golden when you flip.

7. Once gently flipped, cook until the other side is lightly browned or golden.

8. Transfer to a plate or platter to serve.  Enjoy!

 

These pancakes are not just for breakfast.  They are lunch and dinner worthy. They are also great on their own but a side of cooked maple flavored sausages or crispy bacon adds to the completeness of the meal.

Most importantly, once you make them for your family and friends they will be happy to travel any distance to eat them. That is, of course, if you want them coming back. I think this just might be the recipe that encourages my friends to travel to Rhode Island to visit me.  And I promise that when I make these pancakes for my house guests, I will use the fresh eggs my neighbor Sheila gives me. The eggs from her chickens are a recipe game changer.

The Beginning

Like many, I have always loved the entire process of planning, preparing and presenting food for friends and neighbors. My sources of inspiration come from taking in the thousands of cooking magazines I have purchased over the years, from reading the hundreds of cookbooks I have collected, from reading the food blogs of others, from eating in restaurants, from watching some of my favorite chefs on television, from the few cooking classes I have taken, and maybe most importantly, from the memories of great meals in the homes of friends. 

Nothing gives me more pleasure than making memorable meals for others or just making gifts of food. Okay, maybe there are a few other things that bring pleasure to my life. But seriously, my passion for baking and cooking rank pretty high on the list.

I am of the age where I remember Martha Stewart having 'holiday' specials on television.  She and her magazine turned me into a collector of beautiful dishes, glassware and all sorts of baking tools. Then came Ina Garten and the simplicity of white plates with beautiful napkins gave me yet another canvas option on which to serve food. I have convinced myself over the years that a beautifully set table turns an ordinary meal into an extraordinary meal as a way to justify my continued purchases of plates, platters, glassware, and napkins. Yes, I rationalize most everything.

For years I have thought about creating a blog where I can share recipes, stories, photos and some of the things I have learned about cooking. Life distractions and changes have kept me from turning my thoughts into a reality. Thank goodness I finally had the epiphany that those things will always be in my sometimes chaotic life.  So the time has now come for me to push myself to move forward with creating a space to combine a few of my passions.  Salted Sugared Spiced™ is a work in progress as I am certain that it will evolve as I do. Finally this new journey begins.