{"id":5737,"date":"2017-03-30T17:32:31","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T23:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icecreaminspiration.com\/?p=5737"},"modified":"2019-10-10T19:21:05","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T01:21:05","slug":"lemon-pistachio-shortbread-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icecreaminspiration.com\/lemon-pistachio-shortbread-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"

These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Cookies are turned into something spectacular with the addition of pistachios, lemon, and chocolate chips. Everyone will be asking you for the recipe!<\/p>\n

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I am new to shortbread cookies. They just didn\u2019t seem appealing to me when I could have a soft, chewy cookie instead. (Don\u2019t we all prefer soft cookies over crunchy ones?)<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, I did, until now. I saw a\u00a0recipe for Dark Chocolate Cranberry Shortbread Cookies<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0I immediately knew I had to try them.<\/p>\n

The result? I fell head-over-heels in love with shortbread cookies and I began to realize how many variations I could make of these cookies.<\/p>\n

My first variation was Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Cookies. (I also added some chocolate chips to the dough, but adding it to the name would make it WAY too long. Lemon Pistachio Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies.\u00a0<\/em>See what I mean? The chocolate is optional anyway.)<\/p>\n

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If you’ve never made shortbread cookies before, the technique may be a little different than you’re used to. You don’t scoop these cookies. You cut them. Let me explain what I mean.<\/p>\n

First of all, you are going to beat some butter until it’s nice and pale. Then you’ll add your lemon juice (and\/or lemon essential oil). Next you’ll add powdered sugar, which is also a departure from the standard cookies we all know and love. But the powdered sugar is what gives these cookies their lovely melt-in-your-mouth texture.<\/p>\n

Then you’ll add your flour, pistachios and chocolate chips. You may have also noticed that I did not mention eggs or any other kind of leavening. That’s because shortbread cookies are, well, short. (I don’t think that’s really why they’re called “shortbread cookies,” but it makes sense to me.)<\/p>\n

Now here’s the novel part. You’re going to get out about an 18″ piece of plastic wrap and lay it down on your counter. Then you’re going to take all this lovely dough, squish it together in a log shape, and put it on this plastic wrap. The log should be about two inches thick. Make sure you really squish everything together. We don’t want our cookies to fall apart later on. Then you’ll roll the dough up nice and tight in the plastic wrap.<\/p>\n

Then you are going to put the log in the freezer for a couple of hours. Yes, this takes extra time, but\u00a0this is also a good thing, because you can make the dough days in advance, put it in the freezer, and then take it out when you want to bake the cookies so they will be nice and fresh.<\/p>\n

Once you remove the dough from the freezer, let it thaw for about 15 minutes or so, and then slice it with a big, fat knife (like a butcher knife) into half-inch slices. Then place them on cookie sheets lined with parchment or silicone mats, or on stoneware. These cookies don’t spread much, but they do spread a little.<\/p>\n

Finally, bake them in a 320-degree oven for 16-18 minutes. You’ll notice the lower oven temperature here as well. That’s so the cookies bake nice and slowly and evenly. The result? Pure magic.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tPrint<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Cookies<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\tAuthor<\/span>: Melissa Howell<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
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Ingredients<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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