Recipe - French Pistachio Butter Creams

COOKIE (SEE NOTES
1 One half cup Allpurpose flour
One half teaspoon Salt
Three fourths cup Unsalted butter; softened
One half cup Confectioner's sugar
1 lg Egg

FILLING (SEE NOTES
One fourth cup Unsalted butter; softened
One half cup Confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon Rum; cognac or milk

FROSTING (SEE NOTES
6 ounce Semisweet chocolate chips
One half cup Shelled pistachio nuts;
chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Beat butter & sugar until light & fluffy.
Beat in egg. At low speed, beat in flour mixture. Refrigerate dough 30
minutes.

Shape dough into sixty Three fourths inch balls. Transfer to ungreased cookie sheets.
Flatten each ball to 1 One half inch circles. Bake 13 to 15 minutes, until light
golden.

Filling: Beat butter, sugar & rum in bowl until smooth. Spread evenly on
flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies to make
sandwiches. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

To frost: Microwave chocolate on high for 1 One half to 2 minutes, stirring
after 1 minute, until melted. Spread top of each cookie with chocolate,
then dip in chopped pistachio nuts. Refrigerate until set, about 10
minutes.

Makes 30 cookies.

MY NOTES: I found that the thinner I pressed out the cookie, the nicer
texture the finished product had. The amount of chocolate was very
adequate, and dont' make it too thick because it then contrasts a bit with
the texture of the cookie itself which is very delicate. The filling amount
was adequate, but I prefer to make One half recipe more and add some extra
confectioner's sugar because at room temperature it's a bit soft. However,
the nuts were not enough...I found I used a whole cup of pistachios.

Recipe by: Ladies' Home Journal

Posted to TNT Prodigy's Recipe Exchange Newsletter by
NAFY67C@prodigy.com (DEBORAH EPSTEIN) on Nov 17, 1997