Pistachio Shortbread With Lemon Glaze Recipes

PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Mix flour, powdered sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter, pistachios, egg yolk, and vanilla. Using on/off turns, mix until moist ball forms. Transfer dough to work surface. Divide dough in half. Form each dough half into 8 x 1 1/4-inch log (if dough is too soft, chill until firm, about 30 minutes). Wrap logs in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 5 days ahead; keep chilled.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice logs into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, rolling log after every few slices to retain round shape. Place rounds on ungreased baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake shortbread until barely golden, about 18 minutes. Cool shortbread on baking sheets. DO AHEAD Shortbread can be made up to 4 days ahead. Store shortbread in airtight container at room temperature.

PISTACHIO-LEMON BARS

Steps:

• To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (if using foil, lightly butter it). Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and process until well combined. Stir in chopped pistachios. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of the lined pan using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup (if it sticks, place a piece of parchment paper on the dough before pressing). Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the filling ingredients. When the crust is baked, pour the filling into the pan and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and cut into 2-inch squares.

LEMON-GLAZED PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer with a large bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, gradually mix in the flour mixture until just combined and it holds together when squeezed (it will be slightly crumbly). Stir in the pistachios.
• Gather the dough into a disk. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a generous 1/4 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets, rerolling and cutting the scraps as necessary. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake until the edges are set and light golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth. Place the wire rack over a baking sheet to catch any drips. Dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze and place on the rack. Let set for 15 minutes.

PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD WITH LEMON GLAZE

Steps:

• Mix flour, butter and sugar until well-blended. Stir in nuts until stiff dough forms.
• Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a ball. Pat each ball into a 6-inch round shape (about 1/2-inch thick) on a lightly floured surface.
• Cut each round into 8 or 16 wedges each. Arrange wedges on a nonstick jelly roll pan and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.
• Set the pan on a cooling rack and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Transfer the cookies directly to the rack to cool completely.
• Make glaze: Combine confectioner's sugar, corn syrup and lemon peel. Stir in lemon juice until desired consistency is achieved.
• Use a fork to drizzle glaze on shortbread wedges. Sprinkle chopped pistachios onto glazed shortbread.

PISTACHIO TORTE WITH LEMON-CARDAMOM GLAZE

Steps:

• Make torte: Preheat oven to 375°F and butter a 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom of pan with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
• In a food process or blender finely grind pistachios with 3/4 cup of sugar. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in flour, butter, zest, vanilla, and almond extract. In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat whites with salt until they barely hold soft peaks and gradually beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar until meringue just holds stiff peaks. Stir one third of meringue into pistachio mixture to lighten and fold in remaining meringue gently but thoroughly. Pour batter into pan.
• Bake torte in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until it pulls away from side of pan and top is golden brown. Cool torte in pan on rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan and remove side. Invert torte onto rack and remove bottom of pan. Carefully peel off wax paper and cool torte completely. Torte may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and kept wrapped well in plastic wrap in an airtight container at room temperature (I have found it also freezes well).
• Make glaze: in small bowl whisk together the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, and cardamom until smooth. Drizzle over top of torte and let drip down the side.
• Garnish top with chopped pistachios and let glaze set. Recipe suggests serving with ice cream, but I never have.

PISTACHIO SHORTBREAD SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in pistachios., Preheat oven to 300°. On a surface sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 2-1/2-in. fluted round cookie cutter dusted with confectioners' sugar. Place cookies 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18-20 minutes. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely., Spread preserves on bottoms of half of the cookies; cover with remaining cookies. If desired, combine confectioners' sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.