This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe was selected by Dawn of Growing Up (And Having Fun) After 40: pistachio linzer thumbprints! Unfortunately, something came up and Dawn wasn’t able to bake along this week so I was asked to host and was happy to help out. I was actually contemplating skipping this week as I am not a pistachio person so this was just the incentive I needed to give these cookies a go and then hand them off to someone who’d enjoy them.
The first challenge with this recipe was tracking down the unsalted pistachios called for. As someone who has never purchased pistachios, I had no idea it was going to be so challenging to find them! I checked 5 or 6 stores, each time finding another variation on roasted, salted pistachios, before giving up and deciding that it just wasn’t going to happen. Did anyone manage to find unsalted? I’d love to hear where if you did. To compensate for using the salted pistachios, I skipped the salt in the recipe, hopeful it would all work out in the end.
The cookie dough is put together entirely in a food processor, which I love – it just makes it so easy. We also escaped having to bring butter to room temperature for this recipe, letting the food processor work chilled butter into the flour. In other words, the recipe probably couldn’t have been much quicker or more simple. Perhaps the hardest part was making sure curious kitties didn’t get their paws on the dough.
Shaping the cookies, though – that was a bit more tricky. The recipe instructed you to chill the dough until firm (about an hour) after making it. I do think it’s a good idea to chill the dough a bit so your butter will be cold when the cookies go in the oven, but an hour may have been too much. My dough was so cold it kept cracking when I tried to press the hole in the center for the jam. I let it warm up a bit and it became easier, but I was wary of letting it get too warm. I used apricot preserves in my cookies and having made half of the recipe, I wound up with about 18 cookies. The cracks worsened in the oven, but the cookies mostly maintained their shape otherwise. In the end, I liked the cracks in my cookies – the color and texture of the pistachios already gave the cookies a rustic appearance and I think the cracks just made them more endearing.
My mom was kind enough to take these cookies home so they didn’t go to waste here. Both she and my step-father reported back to me that they enjoyed them! Neither told me they were too salty so I assume using the salted pistachios and eliminating the other salt from the recipe worked out well. My mom thought the pistachios and apricot preserves complemented one another nicely. They both commented on the texture added by the chopped pistachios (it was a good thing) and my mom even thought the cookies were hearty enough to justify them as breakfast food (and unlike me, she doesn’t generally believe baked goods are perfectly acceptable breakfast options) 🙂
Thanks to everyone who baked along this week! You can check out how the other bakers fared by visiting the SMS blogroll.
Pistachio Linzer Thumbprints
from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, plus 2/3 cup shelled unsalted pistachios, finely chopped, for rolling
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 lb (2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup seedless raspberry or apricot preserves
confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling
In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse 1 cup of pistachios with 1/2 cup flour until fine but not powdery. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups flour as well as the sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Pulse to combine.
Add the butter and lemon zest to the bowl of the food processor and carefully use your fingers to toss and coat the butter with flour. Pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and pulse until the dough just holds together.
Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be tightly wrapped with plastic then aluminum foil and frozen for up to 3 weeks.)
Preheat oven to 350 F with a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Using a 1-oz cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the egg whites, then the chopped pistachios. Place the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using a floured thumb, press an indentation into the center of each cookie.
Keep the cookies chilled while you fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch pastry tip with the preserves. (Alternatively, you could use a resealable plastic bag.) Fill each cookie with about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
When cool, dust generously with confectioners’ sugar. Dip your finger in water and tap on the centers of each cookie so the jam shines through the sugar.
(Cookies keep at room temp for 3 days, for up to 5 days in the fridge or up to 3 weeks in the freezer. You can also use hazelnuts instead of pistachios.)
I have had lots of problems with thumbprint cookie dough too – either I chill it too much and it cracks or I don’t chill it enough and they spread like crazy (but I think that recipe was not the best). These look pretty awesome and I love the pistachio and apricot combo.
I buy unsalted pistachios at Trader Joes, and they also have some in the bulk bins at our local natural food store.
I find thumbprints really fun to make.
I must have kept it cold, the right amound of time because, I had little trouble. They did start to crack but not enough to separate so I thought it was fine. Maybe, I’m just too easy.
Yours certainly look good and it was so nice of you to step in, like that. Thanks for hosting.
interesting cookie! i would have just omitted the salt in the recipe too…that’s what i do when i have salted butter for a recipe that calls for unsalted, i just cut back the salt 🙂
Thanks for hosting, Tracey!
I used salted pistachios and rinsed them with cold water, then toasted them to dry them. 🙂 I didn’t feel like tracking down unsalted.
I absolutely adore thumbprint cookies – usually with walnuts, but I’ve had my eye on these since I bought the book. And the cracks? I really like them 🙂
awesome! beautiful! I bet the taste must be so good!
I used salted pistachios, too. Seemed fine to me!
Thanks for stepping in and hosting this week!
I agree, the cracks add character! I’m sorry I couldn’t bake along with you this week but these might make an appearance as almond thumbprints after I get back from vacation… Thanks for hosting this week!
I think the cookies look beautiful. I love that they have homey look to them.
Very nice,I like it !!:))
I am TOTALLY a pistachio person and so I would love these! I can usually find unsalted pistachios at trader joe’s in case you ever need them again!
They look good. Sorry I had to miss this one. We have been busy and I didn’t get to them.
I’m definitely going to be making these in the next two weeks- thanks for all the tips!
Hi Tracey. Thanks for the tips earlier in the week about the cookies. I was able to make a couple of modifications which I think helped. I did find unsalted pistachios at Trader Joes. I guess I got lucky on my first store! They are a great source for nuts.
Your cookies look great! I love the rustic look. Glad to hear they were hit with your family.
Looks great. I think that I’ll try to make these eventually as well. I’ll take all the problems and suggestions into mind when I end up making these.
I found unsalted pistachios in a bin at Sprouts. I’m not sure if that’s a nationwide thing but they have a couple around in AZ.
I agree that the cracks make them look “rustic.” Thanks for hosting despite your dislike for pistachios, and thanks again for emailing the recipe!
Hi Tracey..love this Pistachio Linzer Thumbprints Cookies. I have added it to my to do list. Now like you I have to hunt for the unsalted ones 🙂 Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Tracey, thanks for hosting this week, despite the fact that you don’t like pistachios. I like the rustic look of these cookies and yours look great! I made them today, but somehow it got to be 11 PM and I don’t have it in me to do a post right now.
I bought unsalted pistachios at Trader Joe’s. It’s amazing how much time it can take to collect the necessary ingredients for baking. I ended up buying two kinds of coconut today because I couldn’t remember what we needed for next week’s SM recipe and didn’t want to go back to the store.
Sorry I wasn’t able to bake along- but thanks for filling in hosting for the group! Your cookies look lovely
I love thumbprints but I have to admit that I’m not really nuts about nuts in my cookies. Your thumbprints look lovely, Tracey. I bet that they were enjoyed by everyone who tasted them.
Thank you Tracey for hosting this week! I, too, had issues with the dough being too chilled. I just ended up warming it in my hands a bit for my second and third batches. 🙂
I’ll have to do a rewind and make these. I didn’t even READ the recipe to see how easy this really was. SO busy but I’ll have to give this recipe a shot, even if I just 1/4 the recipe. 🙂
They look amazing!
Yours look lovely! I, too, had problems finding unsalted pistachios (ended up using hazelnuts instead). I didn’t think of Trader Joe’s – smart! Thanks so much for hosting this week . . . and the biscotti you just posted? Yum!
They look delicious…Pistachios are a wonderful ingredient here:)