Nashville Cornmeal Cookies With Cardamom Orange And Pistachios Food

NASHVILLE MOLASSES CORNMEAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Instructions Heat the oven to 375 F. Cream the butter until soft with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and molasses and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Beat just until well blended. Add the baking soda. Add the flour and cornmeal gradually on low speed until well blended. Use a spatula to scrape up any unblended ingredients around the sides and bottom. The dough will be soft, but easy to handle. You can chill the dough until firmer if you like. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in sugar. Arrange 20 per large baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 13 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 50. Note: Add 1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger for fun.

NASHVILLE CORNMEAL COOKIES WITH CARDAMOM, ORANGE AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Instructions Heat the oven to 375 F. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Add the egg, cardamom, salt, orange zest, and vanilla. Blend well. Blend in the pistachios. Add the flour and cornmeal gradually until well blended on low speed of the mixer. Roll dough into about 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on a baking sheet--I do 20 per sheet, 4 rows of 5 cookies. Press the dough down with your fingers to form small discs. Bake about 13 minutes or until the sides and bottoms are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 55 cookies.

FLOURLESS ALMOND COOKIES WITH CARDAMOM, ORANGE ZEST, AND PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream sugar and oil in a large bowl until mixture resembles texture of wet sand, about 3 minutes. Add egg and orange zest and beat until just combined.
• Whisk almond flour, potato starch, cardamom, and salt in a medium bowl. Fold dry ingredients into oil mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
• Spread pistachios in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Divide dough into 2 balls. Roll each ball into 1 1/2" wide logs, then roll logs in pistachios to coat; reserve remaining pistachios for decorating, if desired. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Using a sharp knife, slice dough into 1/4"-thick rounds and arrange on baking sheets (about 12 per sheet). Sprinkle with reserved pistachios, pressing lightly to adhere (alternatively, drizzle with melted chocolate after cookies are baked, see below).
• Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until undersides are golden, 8-12 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks. Let 1 sheet cool completely before lining again with parchment and baking third batch.
• If you didn't sprinkle the cookies with pistachios, melt chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a medium pot of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring in between bursts, until chocolate is smooth. Drizzle cooled cookies with chocolate and let set before serving.
• Do Ahead
• Dough can be formed into logs 3 days ahead; keep chilled. Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

PISTACHIO, CARDAMOM AND SAFFRON COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a multi-cavity cookie tray (e.g. mini muffin tray, a muffin-top tray or a hemisphere pan) with the 1 tablespoon butter and set aside to chill.
• Combine the warm milk with the saffron threads, stir and set aside for 5 minutes until the saffron threads begin to bloom and the milk takes on a golden hue.
• Cream the remaining 1/2 cup butter with the granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until the butter is soft and the sugar has melted in. Add the crushed cardamom pods, finely chopped pistachios, the saffron milk with the saffron threads and a pinch of grated nutmeg if using and the pandanus water. Mix until well combined. Slowly add in the all-purpose flour and salt and mix well again. The mixture will be sandy in texture. Use a spatula to break up any lumps and stir it all until well combined and there are no dry spots.
• Portion the cookie mixture using an ice cream scoop and scoop it directly into the prepared chilled cookie tray. Lightly compress the mixture into the cavity using the back of a spoon. Fill each cavity to the top as these cookies will not rise. Chill any unused cookie mixture between bakes.
• Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges begin to lightly brown. The cookies do not change color or rise during baking. Carefully unmold from the cookie tray. Place them on a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before storing in an airtight container in a cool place until ready to decorate.
• To decorate: Arrange the cookies on a wire rack with a drip pan or cookie sheet underneath.
• Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Place the melting white chocolate wafers in a heatproof bowl over the simmering water. The bottom of the bowl must not touch the water. Maintain a slow simmer and do not let the water boil. Using a silicone spatula, stir until the chocolate is melted. Quickly stir in one pinch of saffron threads while the chocolate is warm.
• Carefully pour the white chocolate over the cookies or dunk cookies into the chocolate. Alternatively, use a spoon to drizzle the melted chocolate over each cookie. Sprinkle the pistachio slivers, gold dust or sprinkles and more saffron threads before the chocolate hardens. Cool completely.
• Serve when the chocolate is firm.
• Store in a cool, airtight container for up to a week.

MINDY'S NASHVILLE CORNMEAL COOKIES

Steps:

• Instructions Heat the oven to 375 F. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and lemon zest, if using. Blend well. On a low mixer speed, blend in the flour, cornmeal mix, and the salt just until well blended. Using a small scoop or two teaspoons, scoop balls of dough, about 1-inch in diameter, and roll the balls in a shallow bowl of sugar. Place the balls on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly with your fingers. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Makes about 45 cookies. If using plain cornmeal, add 1 teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredients.