These rich, buttery, crumbly, and melt-in-your-mouth Pistachio Crescent Cookies are the perfect treat for the winter holidays.
Hello, everyone! I will keep it very short today. Monday, grrr.
I have mostly been sharing savoury recipe Christmas ideas so far, but it’s going to change this week. I promise to share with you two recipes for festive cookies this week. How about that? Let’s not waste any more of our time and talk about these delightful Pistachio Crescent Cookie.
I don’t like bold statements, but this is probably one of the most delicious nut-based cookie recipes, I’ve ever tried. What’s not to like about this recipe?
- They are super buttery and rich (Thanks to real butter and nut oils);
- They are crumbly and basically melt-in-your-mouth;
- They’re not overly sweet (For some folks may appear not enough sugar);
- Real pistachios inside and in the outer layer
- The outer layer can be done three different ways
The only one real disadvantage is that pistachios are rather expensive while you need about 1,5 cups. My advice: go and buy a package at Costco, that would be the cheapest option, I believe. Besides, this is the Christmas time – it’s okay to splurge a little bit.
Lastly, I’d like to tell you the possible options for the outer layer:
- Leave these cookies as they are. 1/3 cup of sugar makes them just lightly sweetened, and this doesn’t disturb you from the amazing pistachio flavour;
- Finely process (Basically, you need the “dust” with some little morsels) about ½ of the nuts in a blender and cover the cookies while they’re still warm. Alternatively, do the same but add a little (up to 1/3 cup) of powdered sugar to the pistachios;
- Dust the cookies with some powdered sugar;
- Dip the cookies halfway into the melted chocolate (either white or dark) then sprinkle them with chopped pistachios.
I divided the batch into tree batches and tried the first, second, and the last options, and we did like them all. Either way, they’re all delicious.
Now I hope you give these Pistachio Crescent Cookies a try and like them.
Cheers till next recipe!
Pistachio Crescent Cookies
Ingredients
The Cookies:
- 1 cup shelled salted pistachios, roasted and finally chopped (about ½ chopped)
- 3 tbsp. almond meal
- 2 cups all-purpose or pastry flour, sifted
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. corn starch
- 1 cup unsalted butter, soft
- A good pinch of salt (Only if using unsalted pistachios)
The Outer Layer:
- Option 1: ½ cup salted or unsalted pistachios, finally minced in a blender (You’ll need basically nut dust)
- Option 2: ½ cup salted or unsalted pistachios and 1/3 cup powdered sugar, finally minced in a blender
- Option 3: about ½ to 2/3 cup of powdered sugar
- Option 4: about 100 gr. chopped and then melted white or dark chocolate + ½ cup pistachios, chopped
Instructions
- Beat the butter with the powdered sugar for 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until resemble the dough.
- Cover and chill for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to about 170-175 degrees C. Layer baking sheets with parchment.
- Shape little pieces of dough into crescents (Try making them thinner as they will spread out a bit) and arrange on the sheets.
- Bake between 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool about 10 minutes (Very fragile when hot!)
- Then, if you proceed with options 1, 2 or 3, transfer still warm cookies in the bowl with the mixture and gently cover them to coat.
- If you opt for the option 4, completely cool the cookies, then dip them halfway into melted chocolate, them sprinkle with the nuts. Let the chocolate set for at least 30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.
This is a brilliant idea to make festive cookies using pistachios. Not only that you’ve made them into really cute crescent shapes. They look absolutely delicious. So much wonderful Christmas baking this year Ben. I don’t know what ones to make!!
Neil recently posted…No-Bake Tia Maria Cheesecake
Laura loves to keep pistachios around for snacking, so I think I might be able to get into that container and steal some for these cookies. These sound delicious! I love cookies all year long, but for some reason cookies are even tastier at Christmas. I think Santa would approve of these pistachio cookies!
David @ Spiced recently posted…Creamy Mac and Cheese
I love pistachios, Ben! And the fact these are not too sweet is a bonus! They look tender and so delicious! And thanks for the Costco tip!