Pistachio Cardamom Raspberry Cookies (GF)

While making a batch of my husband’s favorite cookies, I decided to make a variation a bit more to my liking (since I’m not a huge chocolate fanatic). I love the combination of cardamom and pistachios and since I had a bag of shelled pistachios on hand, I thought I’d play around with that idea.

Ready to bake!

Instead of cocoa powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, and coffee syrup used in the original recipe, the new version includes ground and chopped pistachios and ground cardamom. Then I remembered how nice raspberry flavor melds with pistachios and threw that into the mix! As a bonus, almond flour makes them gluten-free (if you’re following a GF diet). The cookies turned out just delicious. See what you think!

Pistachio Cardamom Raspberry Cookies (GF)

Ingredients:

1 C almond flour

3 TB softened butter

3 TB powdered sugar

1/8 t salt

1 t ground cardamom

1/2 C ground pistachios*

1/8 C raspberry preserves

1/8 C finely chopped pistachios*

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2 Mix all ingredients (except finely chopped pistachios) in a bowl until a cohesive dough forms.

3 Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes (it can stay in the fridge a few days before baking).

4 When ready to bake, scoop approximately 1" balls of dough onto prepared baking sheet.

5 With your thumb, make an indentation in each ball and drop about an 1/8 t of raspberry preserves in the center of each cookie.

6 Sprinkle a few of the chopped pistachios on top.

7 Bake 10 minutes.

8 Remove from oven & cool pan on rack for about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to cool completely. 

Yield: approximately 30 adorable, luscious cookies!

* If your pistachios are roasted & salted, omit the salt in this recipe.

Sicilian Pistachio Cookies (gluten-free)

Greetings, Dear Readers.

I feel a bit out of sorts posting a simple cookie article after yesterday's horrible event in Las Vegas (I wrote it last week). Even though I feel depressed and at a loss to come to terms with the senseless violence, and our government's inability to take serious action about realistic gun control, sometimes it does help to cook or bake to relieve some of the stress and anxiety (I know it helps me). Even better would be to invite friends and/or neighbors for a meal, or "coffee and..." to talk peacefully and calmly, or simply to just be together. I hope you and your loved ones are safe.

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While summer is my fave season, I do love the Fall - the warm days/chilly nights, country drives, throwing on a cute little jacket, and the luscious flavors of Fall - plums, pumpkins, pistachios, cinnamon, cardamom. 

Last year at this time I was in Sicily (read about my trip here and here). Ahhhhhh. Beautiful, mysterious, complicated, delicious Sicily. How I loved that trip! Feeling a bit “homesick” for my ancestral homeland, I needed to make something to help me get back there virtually. 

Mt Etna's volcanic landscape

The adorable donkeys of Etna Donkey Trekking

That’s when I came across this recipe on Food52 for Sicilian Pistachio Cookies. Pistachios are a huge part of Sicily’s agriculture, especially near Mt Etna, which we visited. We were taken in by the otherworldly volcanic landscape of Etna. The mountain had just erupted a couple of months before we were there and black lava was everywhere.  The trusty, adorable donkeys of Etna Donkey Trekking carried us over craters, through ancient forests, and afforded us panoramic views otherwise impossible. I highly recommend this excursion if you visit the Catania area.

Back to the cookies! These little gems are SO easy to make, and as a bonus to people who need to watch their gluten intake - they are GF! The cookies have it all: crunch, spice, citrus - a trifecta of deliciousness! 

crunch, citrus, spice pre-rolling

What are your favorite Fall recipes? Do they bring back memories of a favorite trip? Leave a note below. And let me know if you bake these cookies!

Enjoy!

Full recipe here!

Cherry, Pistachio And Vanilla Biscotti

Happy Sunday, CT Readers!


It's been awhile, I know...but I'm here with a scrumptious biscotti recipe for you.  


This is the second in the series of baking my way through Susan Rosso's NYT article "Not All Biscotti Are Created Equal."  You may remember the earlier post on Traditional Italian Almond Biscotti.  


I really like this latest incarnation because they are hearty.  No delicate, fragile cookies here.  Of course, the whole point of biscotti is a cookie tough enough to stand up to dunking and these certainly make the grade.  But the sensual combination of vanilla (a whopping 2 TB!), toasted pistachios, and fat, juicy cherries put these over the top. 


I think next at bat in this series (well, it is Spring...) will either be the Anise, Orange And Pignoli Biscotti or Maple Walnut Biscotti With Maple Icing. Stay tuned...


Print recipe here!

Holiday Baking

How are you doing with your holiday baking? I have been doing alot of baking since our return from the islands a couple of weeks ago. Let's see, so far I have made:

• Mexican Wedding Cookies
• Chocolate Cream Cups
• Lemon Pistachio Biscotti
• Chocolate-Chip Walnut Espresso Biscotti
• Toasted Coconut Shortbread
• and just today, World Peace Cookies

Whew! That's alot of baking. And I'm not done yet. Before Christmas next Friday, I will probably bake another batch of Mexican Wedding Cookies (because they are that good and that easy), and perhaps more World Peace Cookies because they freeze so well. Also on my baking agenda this week: Cranberry and Cornmeal Cake with Caramel-Walnut Topping (for Christmas dinner dessert) and Holiday Bundt Cake (probably to take to our friends in North Carolina for the New Year - shhh, don't tell them).

I have not made the Cranberry-Cornmeal Cake (courtesy of Giada deLaurentis) before but it sounds good and quite festive so I thought I'd give it a go. You can get the recipe here if you'd like to try it.

The Holiday Bundt Cake is a favorite from Dorie Greenspan's award-winning "Baking From My Home to Yours." I made this a few times last year during the holidays and everybody loved it. I think my friends in NC will enjoy it. It includes all the fabulous flavors of the season: cranberries, pumpkin, apples, pecans, cinnamon (you get the idea) and it keeps well. It's great dressed up with a little freshly whipped cream for dessert or cut into nice thick slices, toasted up for brunch.

The World Peace Cookies (what a great name for a cookie) are also from Dorie Greenspan's book and couldn't be easier, or more delicious. Very chocolate-y and moist, with the added touch of sea salt, to give you that sweet/salty sensation that everybody loves.

Let me know what delicious holiday treats you are baking this week (use the comment section below)!

Finally, one quick housekeeping note: I've added a "search" function to the blog (over in the right-hand nav) to make it easier to find a recipe or a link from a past entry.

Happy Holidays!

Eat well, stay warm, and be happy!

Summer...better late than never!

The New York/New Jersey area had its first 90 degree day of the summer today. Today, August 10. And I guess to re-stake her claim on summer, Mother Nature sent us 90% humidity, too. Lovely. But when you spend most of the day indoors, it doesn't really matter too much.

And now for something completely different. I've been on this "real" ricotta kick lately. Not the stuff in the plastic tubs from the supermarket. Thick, fresh, creamy curds from your local Italian specialty store. We've been using it mainly in pasta dishes with ripe tomatoes from our garden, but I recalled a recipe in The New York Times about a month ago by Melissa Clark where she served fresh ricotta with homemade granola. When I realized we were going to have leftover ricotta, I thought this would be a terrific little breakfast dish, and a delightful departure from my standard cereal and bananas. And other than the raw pistachios and the coconut chips called for in the recipe, I had all the ingredients. So after floating around the pool for awhile this evening to de-stress, I hopped out and tossed the granola together. I think this granola is very forgiving and you could probably substitute lots of different ingredients here. In lieu of the pistachios, I used walnuts. Standing in for the coconut chips, I offered unsweetened shredded coconut. I also added a handful of dried cherries. It's all good.

For some reason, this granola reminds me of Tuscany. I think it's the olive oil part. I can see myself sitting at a table at a rustic farmhouse, overlooking a field of giant sunflowers just starting to turn their happy little faces toward the sun. I can't wait to have this tomorrow morning for breakfast with some fresh raspberries and blueberries thrown in for good measure. It's not Italy, but it is summer and I have my own little patch of sunflowers ready to greet the day.

Olive Oil Granola with Dried Apricots and Pistachios

3 C old-fashioned rolled oats

1-1/2 C raw pistachios, hulled

1 C raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

1 C coconut chips

3/4 C pure maple syrup

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil

1/2 C packed light brown sugar

1 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground cardamom

3/4 C chopped dried apricots

Fresh ricotta, for serving (optional)

Fresh berries, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In large bowl, combine oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut chips, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom. Spread mixture on rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until golden brown and well toasted.

2. Transfer granola to large bowl and add apricots, tossing to combine. Serve with ricotta and fruit, if desired.

Yield: about 9 cups.

Visions of Cookies

I've been having trouble sleeping. And when I'm not sleeping, I'm having visions. Not of sugarplums, but of cookies. For the last few weeks, I've been seeing a cookie in my head, a cookie that has been calling to me. A cookie that is chewy and thick with good "stuff." I'm talking about oatmeal cookies here. Just say the words "oatmeal cookie" and people kind of fall apart. It connotes all sorts of warm and fuzzy thoughts. And who couldn't use some warm thoughts in today's ever so chilly economic climate (more thoughts on how to combat this cold environment in a future post).

I think oatmeal cookies are alot like chocolate chip cookies; that is, people have distinct preferences about their likes and dislikes. And I'm no different. I like my cookies with "stuff." Don't give me a plain old oatmeal cookie. Give me nuts, give me some kind of dried fruit, give me coconut. Yes! I want texture and flavor galore.

Now, I suppose I could buy this cookie somewhere, but that wouldn't be any fun. So today, on this rainy, chilly day, in between getting our taxes together, I decided to make this ultimate oatmeal cookie. And where better to start than with the recipe from that kindly Quaker Oats man (see any Quaker Oats product for picture of said man). I mean, there's no reason to totally reinvent the wheel here; I think it's safe to say the Quaker Oats people know how to bake an oatmeal cookie. But their recipe didn't have a whole lot of stuff (only raisins). And in the visions I'd been having, my oatmeal cookie had pistachios and coconut. I toyed with the idea of cranberries or craisins, but in the end I decided to stick with raisins.

One other thing I did differently than the QO recipe was to chill the batter for a couple of hours before baking. In a landmark article by David Leite for the New York Times, David details the need for letting cookie dough rest 12-36 hours to give it time to absorb the liquid. If I had started this on Friday or Saturday, I could have given the dough the full recommended resting time, but I got to this on Sunday afternoon. So my dough only rested two hours. Still, they came out great. Some of them had a lacey quality to them - not what I was going for, but delicious nonetheless. Others were the holy grail of oatmeal cookies - thick, chewy, redolent with cinnamon, with the wonderful texture of coconut and the salty crunch of pistachios. Look at that photo above of the cooling cookies - just look at the "stuff" jutting out. This is an oatmeal cookie!

If you want to experience my ultimate oatmeal cookie, the recipe is below. Or go forth and conjure up your own true vision. Then let us know what kind of cookie visions keep you up at night.

The Cook's Tour Ultimate Oatmeal Cookie

2 sticks butter, softened

1 C firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

3 C quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked

1 C raisins

1 C sweetened coconut

1 C shelled pistachios, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 350F. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, raisins, coconut, pistachios; mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.