Xmas Baking #2: Pistachio, Cranberry and White Chocolate bikkies

I love the way that cranberries and pistachios look together in Christmas baking. These cookies started out in my mind, not as cookies, but as a white chocolate cranberry & pistachio bark. Then I remembered how cloyingly sweet white chocolate can be, and settled on a lesser amount of it in these cookies. Even for someone who usually doesn't appreciate the sweetness of white chocolate, I really love these cookies. The dough makes for quite a crispy cookie, even when baked until only just golden on the bottom. They keep really well in a sealed jar (if they last long enough for that to matter) and would make a great present, wrapped up in pretty white paper with cranberry coloured ribbon.

• 175 grams (6 oz) butter
• 1 cup vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons grated orange rind
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ground vanilla bean
• 250 grams (2 1/4 cups) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 100 grams (approx 1/2 to 3/4 cup) each dried cranberries, chopped pistachios and chopped white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a stand mixer, set on high, beat sugar and butter together until pale. Add in orange rind, egg and vanilla bean powder and beat on high for 2 minutes more. Sift flour and baking powder together and combine with butter mixture. Stir in chocolate nuts and cranberries.

If you're feeling lazy, or are going with the "instant gratification theme", roll dough into balls, place on cookie sheet with about 4 cm (1.5 inches) between and flatten each ball slightly with the bottom of a glass. 

If you're after maximum effect and can stand to wait at least 8 hours for your cookies - roll the dough into 2 logs, wrap in waxed paper and freeze them for 8 hours or overnight. Then use a very sharp knife to slice the frozen dough into cookies. The dough must be frozen for this to work! You'll find that the knife slices beautifully through the cranberries and pistachios to give a gorgeous green and red cross section! I am warning you, if you try to do this with unfrozen dough, you'll end up with a mess as the nuts will tear through the dough.

Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies start to turn golden brown.

Remove cookies to cooling rack.

Makes 48 to 60 cookies.

Comments

[Brilynn]

Those are really pretty, and got me thinking of using that combination in biscotti...

[china]

i had just thought of making a cranberry, almond, white chocolate cookie and was wondering where i'd find a recipe when you posted this. serendipity!