Recipe - Pistachio Coins

FOR DOUGH
Parchment paper for lining
baking sheets
1 lg Egg
One fourth teaspoon Almond extract
One fourth teaspoon Pure lemon extract
2 cup Allpurpose flour
1/3 cup Shelled natural pistachios;
(about 1 One half ounces)
Three fourths cup Sugar
1/8 teaspoon Salt
2 Sticks; (1 cup) unsalted
butter, softened

FOR TOPPING
3 tablespoon Unsalted butter
2 ounce Finequality white chocolate
such as Lindt
6 tablespoon Shelled natural pistachios;
(about 2 ounces)
One fourth cup Dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make dough: In a small bowl whisk together egg and extracts. In a food
processor pulse together flour, pistachios, sugar, and salt until combined
well (do not finely grind nuts). Add butter in pieces and pulse just until
mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg mixture with motor running and pulse
just until dough forms a ball. Turn dough out onto a work surface and with
heel of hand press dough together just until smooth and cohesive.

Form level teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange about 1 inch apart on
baking sheets. With your thumb gently make an indentation in center of each
ball, pressing down almost to bottom.

Bake cookies in batches in lower third of oven until bottoms are pale
golden, about 12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets on racks 5 minutes
and transfer with a spatula to racks to cool completely.

Make topping: In a small heavy saucepan melt butter and chocolate over low
heat, stirring until smooth, and remove pan from heat. Coarsely chop
(keeping separate) pistachios and cranberries.

Working with 10 cookies at a time, spoon One fourth teaspoon chocolate mixture
into each indentation and sprinkle pistachios and cranberries over
chocolate centers. Let chocolate centers set 30 minutes. Cookies keep,
layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room
temperature, 10 days.

Makes about 80 cookies.

Gourmet December 1997

Posted to recipeludigest by Sandy sandysno@pctech.net on Feb 26, 1998