Pistachio Christmas star cookie
I did not have to think long about the shape I wanted for my variation of the classic vanilla kipferl cookie from Austria. What is a Christmas without stars! For this cookie I used ground pistachio nuts for a sweet, nutty taste and added some grated lime peel and a drop of lime juice for a little bit of freshness. When I took my cookies out of the oven I was not completely happy with them. They were still a bit plain and Christmas cookies deserve some extra glamour! I had a few packets of colored marzipan in my cupboard and rolled out one of them thinly. I cut out smaller stars, pressed them onto my pistachio Christmas star cookies and topped each one with a pistachio nut. I used green marzipan but you could, of course, use any color you like or make a nice multicolored plate full. I am curious to see if this stack of glamorous stars will make it to Christmas!
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Pistachio Christmas star cookie
for about 30 cookies
200 grams (1½ cups) flour
75 grams (⅔ cup) shelled pistachio nuts + 30 extra for garnishing
pinch of salt
75 gram (⅓ cup) sugar
185 grams (1 stick + 5 tbs) butter
grated peel of 1 lime
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 large egg yolks
100 grams (½ cup) marzipan
Grind the pistachio nuts finely in the small bowl of the food processor. In a large bowl mix with the flour, the salt and the sugar.
Add the butter, the egg yolks, the grated peel and the lime juice.
With your fingertips, rub into the flour mixture until it all resembles rough crumbs.
Quickly knead into a ball. Form into a disc, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Roll out the dough to ¾ cm/⅓ inch and cut out stars with a cookie cutter. Bring the left over dough together, roll out, cut out cookies and repeat with the rest of the dough.
Bake the pistachio Christmas star cookies in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 mins. They should stay fairly light. Leave to cool on the cookie sheet.
Roll out the marzipan until very thin and cut out (smaller) stars with a cookie cutter. Carefully press them on the cookies. Press a pistachio nut in the middle of each cookie.
This post is also available in: Dutch
