I used to eat a lot of rosewater and pistachio nougat as a kid. Every year, family friends would give us a box or two (along with other tasty treats) for Persian New Year. Some years the nougat would be individually wrapped, and other years it was packed in a golden box filled with flour that would dust my shirt in a telltale sign that I had been eating candy before dinner.
There was something about the taste of the rosewater that drew me in, and when I saw a bottle of it at the grocery store a month or so ago, I had to buy it even though I had no clue how to use it. I brought it home and placed it in the pantry, where it slowly migrated to the back of the shelf until I recently rediscovered it.
On a whim, I opened the bottle and the light floral scent made me think of the nougat. In the end, I decided to make pistachio rosewater cookies inspired by my nougat memories, and this is the recipe I came up with.
Notes:
You can find rosewater in the international section of your grocery store or at Middle Eastern specialty stores. The rosewater may float on top of the butter mixture. Once the flour mixture is added however, the rosewater will become incorporated. I shaped the cookies into square logs, but if you prefer round cookies, then shape them that way. The point of the glaze is to make the chopped pistachios stick. If you don’t have any heavy whipping cream, you could use milk or water instead for the glaze, or just not top the cookies at all. Adding the sugar to the pistachios before they are processed for the topping will prevent them from turning into paste.
Cookie Ingredients:
2⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup powdered sugar
zest of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rose water
1 cup shelled salted pistachios, chopped
Pistachio Topping:
¼ cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1 tablespoon white sugar
Glaze Ingredients:
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
⅛ teaspoon vanilla
5 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
2-4 teaspoons water
Yields 5-6 dozen 1x1x½-inch cookies.
Mix and Shape:
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and both types of sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and vanilla and beat until they are incorporated. Then beat in the rose water. Add the flour mixture all at once, beating just until the dough comes together. Stir in the chopped pistachios. Shape the dough into square logs that are about 1x1 inches wide (the log length does not matter) and wrap them in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Freeze for an hour, or until set.
Slice and Bake:
Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper. Remove the logs from the freezer and use a sharp knife to cut them into ½-inch slices. Place the slices on the prepared baking sheets and bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, for 12-15 minutes or until the cookie bottoms are golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Glaze and Top:
Place the shelled unsalted pistachios in a food processor with the tablespoon of white sugar and process until the pistachios are semi-fine (slightly smaller than lentils). Using a spatula, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy whipping cream, stirring until no lumps remain. Add the water, a teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is about the consistency of maple syrup. Place the glaze in a small Ziplock bag and snip off the tiniest bit of one corner of the bag. Squeeze a little bit of glaze (about ⅛ teaspoon) on each cookie top and use a knife to spread it out over the cookie. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle the cookie with the finely chopped pistachios. Allow the glaze to set, and then store the cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
 |
| Example of how finely to chop the pistachios for the topping. |
No comments:
Post a Comment