Pistachio Orange Chocolate Coins Recipes

APRICOT COINS

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the cheese and milk. (Or use a medium-sized bowl and a wooden spoon.) Using the paddle attachment, whip the cheese (or stir it vigorously) for at least 5 minutes, or until it is very smooth and creamy. If the cheese is still crumbly, add more milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time.
• To assemble, spread about 1/8 teaspoon of cheese on each apricot. (If using California apricots, put the goat cheese on the shiny side.) Drizzle a little honey over the cheese and top with a light sprinkling of thyme. Place a walnut half on top, arrange the apricots on a platter and serve.

PISTACHIO-ORANGE CHOCOLATE COINS

Steps:

• Melt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips with 2 teaspoons shortening in the microwave. Spoon into 1 1/2-inch circles (about 20) on an oiled parchment-lined baking sheet. Let cool slightly, then top with chopped pistachios and candied orange peel. Refrigerate until firm.

PISTACHIO ORANGE SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium, beat the butter and sugar until combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg yolks and orange zest and beat until combined. Beat in the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the pistachios and beat just until evenly distributed.
• Tip the dough into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle the top of the dough with sanding sugar and bake on a rimmed baking sheet until the shortbread is golden brown and set, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet holding the tart pan to a rack to cool for a few minutes. While the dough is still warm, remove the pan edges and cut the cookie into wedges. Let cool completely.
• Carefully separate the wedges and set them on a work surface. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Let stand at room temperature until the chocolate has set, about 1 hour.

PISTACHIO-CRANBERRY-CANDIED ORANGE BARK

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with foil, shiny-side up; smooth out the creases. Make sure all your tools are dry.
• Chop the white chocolate into 1/2-inch pieces with a large knife. Place all but 1 cup of the chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds, then stir with a rubber spatula. Continue microwaving and stirring at 30-second intervals until melted, 3 to 5 minutes total. Immediately add the reserved chopped chocolate to the bowl; stir vigorously until melted and shiny. Don't worry if there are a few small unmelted pieces.
• Pour the white chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet; use the rubber spatula to spread it into a 10-to-12-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick.
• Press the pistachios, cranberries and candied orange peel into the chocolate, arranging them so each bite has a mix of flavors and textures. Let the bark harden completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. (If the room is warm, you may need to freeze the bark for a few minutes.) Break into pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 weeks.

PISTACHIO-ORANGE CHOCOLATE COINS

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and oil the paper. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring, until smooth and melted.
• Spoon the chocolate into 1 1/2-inch circles on the prepared pan. Let cool slightly. Top with the pistachios and candied orange peel. Refrigerate until firm.

PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COINS

Steps:

• Pulse butter, sugar, and salt in a food processor until smooth. Add flour and pulse until a dough forms. Stir in pistachios. Shape dough into two 12-inch, 1 1/4-inch diameter logs, tightly wrap in plastic and freeze until firm, 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are set and barely golden at edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

CHOCOLATE-ORANGE CUPCAKES WITH PISTACHIO BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups with shortening using a paper towel and dust with about 1 teaspoon flour or line with paper liners.
• Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, white sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat 1 cup cold water, olive oil, orange juice, and vanilla extract into flour mixture on medium-low speed until batter is just combined, about 2 minutes. Fold orange zest into batter. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, 2/3-full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Beat butter in a bowl using an electric mixer in medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Slowly pour confectioners' sugar into creamed butter and beat until incorporated, about 2 minutes. Beat pudding mix into butter mixture until just combined. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency of icing is reached. Ice the cooled cupcakes; garnish with grated chocolate.

ORANGE-PISTACHIO DIVINITY

Steps:

• Place egg whites in bowl of a stand mixer; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line two 15x10x1-in. pans with waxed paper., In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup and water; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes to a boil. Cook, without stirring, over medium heat until a thermometer reads 252° (hard-ball stage). Just before that temperature is reached, beat egg whites on medium speed until stiff peaks form., With mixer continuing to run on high speed, slowly add hot sugar mixture in a thin stream over egg whites, beating constantly and scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add orange zest and vanilla. Beat until candy holds its shape and begins to lose its gloss, 5-6 minutes. (Do not overbeat, or candy will stiffen and crumble.) Immediately fold in pistachios., Quickly drop mixture by tablespoonfuls onto prepared pans. Let stand at room temperature until dry to the touch. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container at room temperature.

PISTACHIO COINS

Steps:

• 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 1/4 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.

PISTACHIO DARK-CHOCOLATE CRISPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
• Blend butter, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, salt, curry powder, and egg white in a food processor until smooth.
• Glue parchment down with a dab of batter in each corner, then spread remaining batter evenly into a 14- by 10-inch rectangle (1/8-inch-thick) on parchment with spatula. Scatter chocolate and nuts evenly over batter, then bake until firm and golden-brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer, still on parchment, to a rack to cool completely. Remove from paper, breaking into pieces.

PISTACHIO ORANGE LACE COOKIES

Steps:

• Pulse pistachios and sugar together in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped (but not ground), then stir together with remaining ingredients in a bowl. Spread dough in a 12-inch-long strip on a large sheet of plastic wrap and, starting with a long side, roll up dough in plastic wrap (dough will be very soft). Chill dough on a baking sheet until firm but still malleable, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Roll dough into a 15- by 1-inch log, using plastic wrap as an aid. Halve log crosswise and chill halves, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 3 hours.
• Cut 1 half crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife and arrange about 2 inches apart on 2 parchment-lined large baking sheets. Flatten each cookie into a 1 1/2-inch round with the back of a fork or spoon, dipping fork in water and shaking off excess for each cookie.
• Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes total. Cool cookies on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer with a metal spatula to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough on cooled baking sheets (line sheets with clean parchment).

WHITE CHOCOLATE-ORANGE-PISTACHIO THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Steps:

• Combine butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract in large bowl. Beat using an electric mixer until well mixed. Add flour, salt, and pudding mix; beat well. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie with your thumb.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
• Combine white chocolate chips, milk, and orange zest in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is melted and smooth.
• Pour white chocolate mixture into a piping bag and pipe into the thumbprint of the cooled cookies. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

ORANGE PISTACHIO CRESCENTS

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Beat together yolks and 3 tablespoon water with a fork and stir into flour (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Gently squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, stir (or pulse) in 1 tablespoon more water. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together and divide in half. Form each half into a 4-inch square. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Make filling:
• Cut off peel, including white pith, from orange with a sharp knife and finely chop. (Reserve fruit for another use.) Put peel in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, then fill with water. Add salt and bring to a boil, then boil, uncovered, 10 minutes. Drain in a fine-mesh sieve.
• Bring granulated sugar and water (3/4 cup) to a boil in saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Add peel to syrup. Gently simmer, uncovered, until peel begins to turn translucent and syrup is reduced to about 2/3 cup, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Drain peel in fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, reserving 3 tablespoon syrup. Stir together peel, reserved syrup, and pistachios. Cool to room temperature.
• Makes cookies:
• Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Roll out 1 piece of dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 15- by 12-inch rectangle. Cut out 16 to 20 rounds with cookie cutter.
• Put a scant teaspoon filling on each round, then brush edge lightly with water and fold pastry over filling to form a half-moon. Press edges to seal. Shape each into a crescent by pushing a finger against middle of flat side.
• Bake 1 inch apart on baking sheet until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a rack to cool 2 minutes. Toss warm cookies, a few at a time, in confectioners sugar to coat generously. Cool completely.
• Repeat with remaining dough (cool baking sheet and line with fresh parchment). Reroll scraps once for extra cookies if desired.