The perfect New Year Cookie

I love this recipe–it’s so flexible. You can use different types of nuts, different types of fruits and extracts…so many possibilities! Because the recipe doesn’t use leavening, you may put up to 15 cookies per cookie sheet. The recipe as shared with my by my friend:

Pistachio Coins
Makes about 80 cookies. (Note: is time consuming, but worth it!)

Dough:
Parchment Paper
1 large egg
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
1/3 cup shelled pistachios (1 1/2 oz–look in bulk section of store for already shelled)
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (1 cup)

Lemon Frosting:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp butter
1/4 tsp lemon extract
Milk (my mom’s pretty vague about the amount)

Topping:
3 tbsp butter
lemon frosting or 2 oz white chocolate
6 tbsp shelled pistachios (2 oz)
1/4 cup dried cranberries or craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix dough:
In a small bowl whisk egg and extracts.
In a food processor pulse together flour, nuts, sugar, salt until well-combined. Add butter in pieces and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add egg mixture and pulse until dough forms a ball. Turn dough onto work surface, press just until smooth and cohesive.

Make cookies:
Form level teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange 1 inch apart on sheet. With thumb make indentation in each, pressing down almost to the bottom. Bake in batches in lower third of oven until undersides are pale golden–about 12 minutes. Place baking sheets onto cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then transfer cookies onto racks to cool completely.

Make lemon frosting:
Mix powdered sugar, butter, lemon extract. Add just enough milk to get a good, spreadable consistency. (Enthusia Note: I used the Joy of Cooking recipe–more or less the same proportions, but I added a dash of vanilla extract and cooked the frosting for a bit on the stove–helps get rid of the raw cornstarch flavor, according to JOC)

Make topping:
Coarsely chop pistachios and cranberries. Spoon 1/4 tsp of frosting into each indent. Dunk into bowl of nuts. Then dunk into bowl of cranberries. Let center set 30 minutes or until dry. Keep layered on waxed paper in airtight container.