Pistachio Leaf Cookies
Pistachio Leaf Cookies Version 1
Have you ever seen the green chocolate filled leaf shaped cookies at bakeries everywhere? Almost every bakery sells them, especially traditional Italian ones.. I hate to be a spoiler but these green pistachio leaves are not fresh baked on-premise but rather mass produced by a company called Silver Lake Cookies . Many sales reps through the years have tried to convince me to sell these at my bakery. I decided a long time ago that I would pass on these and continue with my tried and true family recipes for classics like butter cookies, thumbprints and so on.
A few months ago I received a sweet handwritten letter from a fan, Josephine from Allentown PA. She wrote to tell me she ordered my first cookie cookbook. She was enjoying the recipes but was disappointed that I didn’t include a recipe for these leaf cookies. She enclosed some cash and asked if I could send her a recipe and find her a cookie cutter. Weeks later she called and we chatted about the cookie. She was not convinced that my story of the Silver Lake cookie was true. She was insistent that there must be a recipe. I decided to try my own fresh baked version. I found a very cute leaf cookie cutter with an imprint in just the right size. Then I started tinkering.
I adapted my sour cream cut out dough into this pistachio version. It’s sturdy, easy to roll, and keeps the imprint for the veining of the leaf. One version uses pistachio extract and green food color to replicate the bakery classic. Another tastier version ( in my opinion) uses real pistachio for a richer, true pistachio taste. Sending all of these, along with a package of new cutters and cookie samples off to my new friend Josephine. Happy Baking Jo!
PISTACHIO LEAF COOKIES Version1
MAKES 90 COOKIES
If you’d rather not use a pastry bag, you can melt chocolate and simply spread on cookies to sandwich them together.
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons pistachio extract
1 dot of green food color
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer ( or with hand mixer) cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg, sour cream, pistachio extract, and food color. Mix until well blended. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If sticky, dust with a bit of additional flour.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8” thickness. Cut with leaf shaped cutter with vein imprint. Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing each 2 inches apart. Repeat with other half of dough. Re-roll scraps and continue to cut into leaf shapes.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until firm, and edges just begin to brown.
Remove cookies from the oven. Cool completely.
Over simmering water, ( or in a microwave in 15 second increments) melt chocolate. Pour into pastry bag. Pipe a small bit of chocolate onto the underside of half the cookies. Press remaining cookies together, to form a sandwich. Let dry completely.
Pistachio Leaf Cookies Version 2
PISTACHIO LEAF COOKIES Version 2
MAKES 75 COOKIES
This version is loaded with real pistachio flavor. Because of the nuts in the dough, these cookies can’t be rolled as thin as version1. If you’d rather not use a pastry bag, you can melt chocolate and simply spread on cookies to sandwich them together.
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup pistachio paste ( see step 2 below, made from 1 cup of roasted unsalted pistachios)
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup finely ground roasted unsalted pistachios
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound dark chocolate
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Make pistachio paste. In the bowl of a food processor, chop 1 cup of pistachios. Continue to process until a paste forms. This could take 5 minutes or more depending on the freshness of the nuts. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer ( or with hand mixer) cream butter and sugar until light. Add pistachio paste, egg, and sour cream,. Mix until well blended. Add dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Add finely ground pistachios. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. If sticky, dust with a bit of additional flour.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8” thickness or slightly thicker. Cut with leaf shaped cutter with vein imprint. Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, spacing each 2-inches apart. Repeat with other half of dough. Re-roll scraps and continue to cut into leaf shapes.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until firm and edges just begin to brown.
Remove cookies from the oven. Cool completely.
Over simmering water, ( or in a microwave in 15 second increments) melt chocolate. Pour into pastry bag. Pipe a small bit of chocolate onto half the cookies. Press remaining cookies together to form a sandwich. Let dry completely.
