Cranberry Orange Pistachio Thumbprints

Whoot!  I am super excited to share these cookies with you!  They are amazing!  If you had walked past the front of our house this afternoon and looked in the window when I tried one, you might have thought I was a touch crazy.  That's because with my first bite, I had to let out my inner dance.  [Full disclosure:  I was listening to the Mariachi El Bronx (II) album, and how can you not dance when it is on?]  Even though I took my share of modern and ballroom dance classes in college (admittedly, this was a while ago now...), my inner dance still scares the crap out of Scott.  I'd like to believe that is because my dancing is so amazing that it intimidates him, but honestly, it's because I look like a crazy person.  Generally, I try to keep my inner dance harnessed until the curtains are drawn to minimize his embarrassment (and mine), but with all rules, there are exceptions, like this afternoon when I ate my first cranberry orange pistachio thumbprint.

Luckily, I don't think the neighbors saw me.  I did, however, have a bit of a fright as I was standing in front of the picture window chewing my cookie and bopping around because a police car drove up our street, parked, and then the officer started to walk towards our house in his crisp blue shirt and bullet-proof vest.

I've been watching too much Wallander, because immediately I thought he was coming to give us some bad news.  Maybe a ban on letting out your inner dance?  When he turned away from our house and walked down the street, I let out a big sigh of relief and then remembered that I'd seen a police car on our street before.  Maybe the guy likes to come and visit his mother on Sundays and won't park in front of her house?  Regardless, letting out your inner dance is safe for one more day! 

Now that I've shared a very personal detail about myself, let's talk about these cookies.  They are buttery and nutty with a perfectly tart center that is positively addictive.  After a busy morning of baking gingerbread and making a small batch of applesauce, I thought I was done in the kitchen.  I cleaned up, dropped a jar of warm applesauce off at the neighbor's house as a thank you gift, and then decided it was time to curl up with my Kindle.

I sat down on the deck, leaned against the sun-warmed bricks, and started to read.  It was the perfect fall afternoon for reading, but my book was only OK, so my thoughts soon strayed to baking.  In particular, what was I going to make with the cranberries we had just bought?  As I sat there running through the potential possibilities, I zoned in on the idea of pistachio thumbprints with cranberry jam.  Since it was still early, I decided to head back into the kitchen and get started.  I'm glad I didn't wait!  You shouldn't either!

Notes:
If cranberries are not your thing, you could top these with melted chocolate or chocolate ganache instead of the cranberry jelly (once they are fully baked, of course).  Granulated sugar is in the cookie ingredient list twice because you will need two tablespoons to grind with the pistachios to keep them from forming a paste and then another half cup to cream with the butter.  I did not have to cook my cranberry jelly after pureeing; however, if yours is too runny, you may need to return it to the pan to thicken it some more.  I like to pipe the jelly mixture into the indentations because it is quick, clean, and much easier than fumbling with a spoon.  You can use a piping bag or a Ziploc bag with one of the corners cut off to pipe it.  There will be some jelly left over.  (I plan on putting my leftover jelly on buttered toast tomorrow.)  I scoop all of my dough balls at one time onto a large plate, roll all of them to smooth the edges, and place them on the cookie sheet.  It just seems more efficient that way.  I know these are called thumbprints, but using the end of a wooden spoon is easier and more precise than using your thumb.  I don't have a wooden spoon with a handle that is a half-inch thick, so I make a first indentation with the spoon handle and then gently press around it some more to enlarge the hole.  If you don't make it larger, it will still work, but you won't be able to add as much jelly to the cookies.  I always use a clean wooden spoon to deepen the indentation after the first round of baking because I want to make sure I don't introduce any raw eggs to the cookies in case the remaining time in the oven won't be enough to fully cook the egg residue.    

Adapted from Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets

Orange Cranberry "Jelly" Ingredients:
1½ cups (164 g) fresh cranberries
¼ cup (43 g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (59 g) water
zest of 1 medium-sized orange

Pistachio Cookie Ingredients:
½ cup (65 g) shelled unsalted roasted pistachios
2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
2¼ cups (305 g) all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon (2 g) salt
1 cup (2 sticks; 226 g) unsalted butter, cold but not hard
½ cup (96 g) granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Yields about 3½-4 dozen cookies

Cook, Puree:
Combine the cranberries, granulated sugar, and water in a medium-sized saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the cranberries pop and mixture becomes thick and jammy.  Stir the mixture regularly to prevent it from burning.  When the mixture is ready, it will measure about ¾ of a cup.  If you have a little more, or a little less, it is OK.  Just make sure that it is not overly runny.  Use a hand blender, food processer, or blender to puree the mixture.  The consistency should be similar to a thick pancake batter.  If it is too runny, return it to the pan and cook it for a few more minutes.  Once the right consistency is reached, remove it from the heat, stir in the orange zest, and then set it aside to cool.  It will thicken a bit more as it cools.  Once the mixture has cooled, transfer it to a piping bag or a Ziploc bag.  The easiest way to do this is to line a drinking glass with the bag and then scrape the mixture into the bag.  When it is time to pipe the jelly into the cookie indentations, snip off the corner of the bag. 

Process, Whisk, Cream, Stir, Shape, Bake:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350ºF.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment or Silpat mats, and set aside.  Place the pistachios in a food processor with the two tablespoons of sugar.  Process until the majority of the pistachios are finely ground.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, ground pistachios, and salt, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy.  Add the half cup of sugar, and beat until fully combined.  Add the yolks and vanilla at the same time, and beat until incorporated.  Add the flour in halves, beating just until all of the flour is integrated.  Scrape the bowl well to ensure that there are no remaining flour bits.  Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to scoop out a tablespoon's worth (approximately 16 grams) of dough.  Roll the dough ball between your palms to smooth out the edges, and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Once the cookie sheets are full, use the end of a handle of a wooden spoon to indent each cookie a little more than halfway through.  Make the indentation about a half-inch wide.  Bake the cookies at 350ºF for 10 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the oven.  Use a clean wooden spoon end to gently press down on the indentations again to deepen them.  Pipe the cranberry jelly into the indentations.  Don't overfill the holes, because it may run.  Return the cookies to the oven, and bake for another 4-6 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.  Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.  Repeat with any remaining dough.  Store cooled cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper at room temperature or in the freezer.

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