Pistachio Orange Shortbread Recipes

ORANGE PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Add sifted powdered sugar to the butter one tablespoon at a time. Cream mixture for 2-3 minutes, until fluffy and lightened in color.
• Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
• Add ground pistachios and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Don't forget to scrape your bowl at every step to make sure everything is getting incorporated.
• Add orange juice and orange zest to the bowl and mix. Add all-purpose flour and salt and stir with a spatula or on the lowest speed of your mixer for about 30 seconds just until the flour is incorporated.
• Your dough will be very wet and that's ok. I pat it into a disk and lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on both sides and wrap it in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight. This is a very important step. Leave dough in the fridge until it's been entirely chilled. Check by poking the middle of the dough. If it's soft, means the dough has to rest longer.
• Remove dough from the fridge and divide into 2 parts. Keep the part you are not working with in the fridge, covered with the plastic wrap.
• Roll the other half on a floured counter until it's 1/4" thick. Dough might be very hard at first. Give it a couple of minutes to soften up slightly.
• Cut into rounds, stars, or rectangles, whatever shape you want to work with. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or with a silicon mat.
• Place tray in the freezer while you pre-heat your oven.
• This step is also important because when you roll out the dough, the butter softens up. You want the butter to be very cold and solid before entering the oven. This helps your cookie retain a better shape and structure because the butter won't start melting immediately.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
• Bake trays anywhere from 10-20 minutes. It depends on the size of the cookies you are making. Speaking about size, if your cookies are very large, say, over 1 1/2 inches long or wide, you want to lightly poke the top of the cookies with a fork before inserting in the oven. If you don't do that, air bubbles will form and change the shape of the cookies.
• Remove cookies from the oven once center is lightly blonde and outsides are lightly golden. That's the perfect balance for looks and texture! Don't overbake your Shortbread cookies or they will be tough.
• Once cookies are cooled, melt chocolate over a double boiler. Dunk one end of each cookie in melted chocolate and scrape excess with a small spatula. Sprinkle powdered pistachio over chocolate and let it dry on a wire rack.

PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Mix flour, powdered sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter, pistachios, egg yolk, and vanilla. Using on/off turns, mix until moist ball forms. Transfer dough to work surface. Divide dough in half. Form each dough half into 8 x 1 1/4-inch log (if dough is too soft, chill until firm, about 30 minutes). Wrap logs in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 5 days ahead; keep chilled.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice logs into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, rolling log after every few slices to retain round shape. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake shortbread until barely golden, about 18 minutes. Cool shortbread on baking sheets. DO AHEAD Shortbread can be made up to 4 days ahead. Store shortbread in airtight container at room temperature.

ORANGE PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Cream butter until light and fluffy.
• Slowly add confectioner's sugar, scraping down sides. If dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Add 3/4 chopped pistachios and zest of orange.
• Mix flour and kosher salt together and add flour to butter mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Don't over-mix!
• Flatten dough into a round or rectangular disk and chill 30 minutes. This is especially important on a warm day.
• Lightly flour a board and roll out the shortbread dough to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2". Cut into shamrock shapes, or if making fingers, roll into a large rectangle and cut into rectangles approximately 1" x 2".
• Bake on a silpat or parchment paper in center of oven for 20-25 minutes, or until a pale golden color.
• If desired, sprinkle shortbread with sanding sugar immediately.
• Cool completely on a wire rack
• Store shortbread in an airtight container.

SHORTBREAD COOKIES WITH PISTACHIOS AND CRANBERRIES

Steps:

• Chop pistachios until finely chopped. Chop cranberries.
• Combine butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl; beat until fluffy. Mix in pistachios, cranberries, cornstarch, and orange zest until well combined.
• Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Poke the center of each ball with a floured finger until it makes a deep dimple. Fill with about 1/4 teaspoon cranberry sauce. Chill the cookies for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Transfer chilled cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
• Working in batches, bake cookies in the preheated oven, one sheet at a time, until the edges begin to turn light brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining batches.
• Roll in powdered sugar just before serving, if desired.