Pistachio Cardamom Butter Food

EASY BISCOTTI RECIPE

Steps:

• Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
• In a small bowl whisk flour and baking powder.
• Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer like this one, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add one egg at a time, beating gently until combined.
• Add the pistachios, cardamom, and vanilla extract. Mix with a spoon until combined.
• Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
• Dust the lined baking sheet with flour. Spoon the dough on top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Heat your oven to 350 degrees F, adjusting a rack in the middle.
• Take the dough out of the fridge. Using floured hands, form a log that's about 12 inches long (it doesn't need to be perfect. The dough will spread during baking).
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden, rotating the baking sheet halfway through.
• At this point, the dough should still be quite soft. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 to 20 minutes. Take a serrated knife and cut the log into 1/2-inch slices. Arrange the biscotti slices flat in one layer on the baking sheet, keep them about 1/2 inch apart.
• Reduce the oven heat to 275 degrees F. Bake for another 30-35 minutes, turning the biscotti cookies over halfway through until crisp. Remove from the heat and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Once cooled completely, you can store the biscotti in a loosley covered glass jar or container.

PISTACHIO CARDAMOM BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies:
• Cook butter and cardamom in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is golden brown and fragrant, 6-8 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes, then strain butter through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Freeze until just firm, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.
• Transfer butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients and pistachios and beat on low speed just until combined.
• Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half. Place each half on a 9x13" sheet of parchment paper with the long end facing you. Roll dough into 2 logs about 1 1/2" in diameter. Wrap each in parchment paper, making sure to cover ends completely. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Let dough stand at room temperature until soft enough to slice, about 15 minutes. Slice logs into 1/4"-thick rounds. Arrange rounds on 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets about 1" apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until bottoms are lightly golden, 12-15 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cool.
• Make the glaze and assemble the cookies:
• Combine chocolate and oil in a small heatproof bowl. Heat in 10-second intervals in microwave, stirring, until melted and combined, 30-40 seconds total.
• Dip cookies halfway into melted chocolate and transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle chocolate with pistachios. Chill until chocolate is set, about 10 minutes.
• Do ahead
• Dough can be made up to 2 weeks ahead; keep frozen. Let stand at room temperature until soft enough to slice, about 30 minutes.

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.

CARDAMOM & PISTACHIO BISCUITS

Steps:

• Put the butter and the flour in a large mixing bowl and rub together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like grainy sand.
• In another bowl, stir together the rest of the ingredients until smooth and runny. Pour over the butter and flour mixture and combine with your hands. When the dough is soft and squidgy, shape it into a ball, wrap it up in cling film and put it in the fridge for 20-30 mins to firm a little.
• Just before you remove the dough from the fridge heat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and on a rolling pin then roll out the dough until it's about the thickness of a £1 coin.
• Use your ruler and a dinner knife to carefully cut the biscuit dough into rectangles that are 10cm long and 3cm wide and put them on the trays, leaving 2 fingers worth of space between each biscuit.
• Put the biscuits in the oven for 10-12 mins. Once baked, cool in the trays for a few minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
• To decorate, melt the chocolate in the microwave then dip the end of each biscuit in the melted chocolate and leave to set on a plate or tray lined with baking parchment. Before the chocolate sets sprinkle them with a pinch of your favourite toppings then leave somewhere cool for 1-2 hrs. If giving as a gift, pack into little boxes once the chocolate is completely set (keeps for 2-3 days).