Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
This recipe for pistachio and cardamom shortbread cookies has been tossing around my head for months. I could imagine what they would taste like: buttery-sweet shortbread with a hint of cardamom, encased with a ring of salted pistachio.
Cardamom was a little difficult to track down. My grocery store didn’t carry it in the spice section, so I ended up purchasing a bottle of organic ground cardamom on Amazon.
I used salted pistachios in this recipe, because I prefer a little salt in my sweets. It brings out the buttery taste of the shortbread and plays up the nutty pistachio crust. Use unsalted pistachios if you want a less savory version.
These cookies were fun to make. The dough is easy to work with and once you roll it up in plastic wrap and allow it to chill, cutting the cookies is a snap. To get that beautiful pistachio crust, the chilled dough log is rolled back and forth in crushed pistachios right before slicing the cookies and baking them. A single whole pistachio pressed into the center puts them over the top.
Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
As I was photographing the cookies, my 15-month-old snuck his little hand into the shot. At first, I pushed his little grabby fingers away, but eventually let him steal a cookie. How could I not? The resulting image melts my heart. I just love those fat little fingers!
My whole family loved this recipe and I hope you do too. The cookies aren’t too sweet, and they are full of sweet nutty flavor. Enjoy!
Pistachio Cardamom Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1⁄4 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1⁄2 cup finely chopped pistachios
- 24 whole pistachios
Method
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream the butter until light in color and smooth. Add the vanilla bean seeds, orange zest, salt and cardamom.
Sift together the powdered sugar and flour. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until it comes together into a dough. Form into a log about 2 inches thick and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/ 180 degrees C.
Unwrap the cookie log and allow to soften for 5-10 minutes, enough so the outside becomes slightly tacky. Roll the log in the chopped pistachios, pressing down softly so there is a thick coating. Slice into 1/4-inch pieces and place on a cookie sheet 1-inch apart. Press a whole pistachio into the middle of each cookie.
Bake for 10-20 minutes until the edges are very slightly brown, rotating the pan halfway through.
https://loveandduckfat.com/pistachio-cardamom-shortbread-cookies/
Recipe adapted from Saffron and Pistachio Shortbread Cookies by Yossy Arefi
These look great. I love how they look so different than most cookies! What a wonderful idea.
Pinned this to make very soon! Thanks for sharing and love the little fingers too 😉
Oh my… Did you make these??? They look SO good, and beautiful photographed!!!
Good job.
My mom is a big fan of pistachios 🙂 Tweeted this too!
WHHHHAAAT!!!! I instantly Pinned this recipe for later…I need to make these. I love cardamom and pistachios so I can tell I will really like these cookies.
I am NOT a cookie lover; however, I have to say these pictures made me salivate. They look yum yum and the pictures are pro! Of course, I’ll have to make them vegan – substituting the butter. Thank you! This is great!
Honestly I do not know what a Pistachio taste like so I am now curious to make this one as I like how the shortcake look likes.
These combine three of my all time favorite things…cardamom, pistachio, and shortbread…pinned!
Yum, this sounds like such a great flavor combination!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen pistachio cookies before! They look awesome :). Cardamom is difficult to find in a grocery store, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it either. Shortbread cookies are definitely some of my favorites so I’ll have to take a look on Amazon.
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful project on The Inspiration Board at homework. You were featured in the spotlight!
Have a wonderful weekend.
carolyn ~ homework
Hmmmm these sound scrumptious, I like that you used salted pistachios. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up with us again this weekend, I’d love to see you there Have a great weekend! P.S Subscribing your blog 🙂
These are gorgeous! And they sound yummy too.
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
This delicious post has been featured on “Tuesdays with a Twist” – if you get a chance please stop by and grab a featured button: http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2014/03/time-to-link-up-tuesdays-with-twist_25.html
Thanks
Angie
I LOVE pistachio – these would not last long in my home!!
Thanks for linking up to Wordy Wednesday! 🙂
These cookies look delicious!! I have been looking for something to do with extra pistachios, and now I know. 🙂