Pistachio Treatsby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 23 Dec 2007 07:05 AM My mom loves pistachio nuts. So much in fact that each Christmas she gets about 10 pounds worth of the hearty nuts from various gift givers. When I was a kid she'd get the ones that were covered with that red dye. I haven't seen red pistachios in years, which I'm sure has to do with the fact that the ingredients in the dye proved to be harmful to lab rats... and here we thought the only adverse effect of eating red pistachios was dealing with fingers that looked like they were badly sunburned. In any event, my mom doesn't discriminate when it comes to pistachios---red, white, green---she'll eat them all. Over the years she has accumulated a number of recipes, which feature her favorite nut in various forms. (You didn't think she ate all those nuts by themselves.) My favorites are the ones that combine pistachios with chocolate. Take a look: PISTACHIO TOFFEE Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups shelled pistachios, divided 1 cup (2 sticks) butter 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup water 1 tablespoon corn syrup 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place pistachios in a single layer in a pan; toast for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool and coarsely chop; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugars, water and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium, and continue to boil until mixture reaches 300 degrees (use a candy thermometer and make sure the mixture reaches the hard crack stage); stir frequently. Add in 3/4 cup pistachios; mix well and pour into a jellyroll pan lined with buttered foil. Spread mixture into a large rectangle. Cool completely. In a microwave-safe container, microwave white chocolate 30 seconds; stir. Continue microwaving in 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth, but not hot. Using a spatula, spread over toffee, covering it completely. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pistachios and gently pat into chocolate. Place pan in refrigerator for 5 minutes or until chocolate has set. CHOCOLATE PISTACHIO COOKIES Ingredients: 2/3 cup softened butter 1 cup sugar 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled 2 eggs, separated 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Colored sugar for decorating 1/2 cup chopped, shelled pistachios Directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add chocolate, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture. Chill dough. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into desired shapes with 2 1/2 to 3-inch cookie cutter. Beat reserved egg whites until foamy. Brush on cookies. Sprinkle with sugar and pistachios. Press nuts gently into cookies. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 6 - 8 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies. Related Articles: Christmas Cookie Exchange: Pinwheels and Tassies Hawaiian Style Christmas Cookies Peanut Butter Lovers' Dream Cookie Easy Holiday Cookie Bar Recipes Cookie Exchange: Pignoli Cookies Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevantfood tags Scrapbooking | holidays | weight loss | Coupons | children | Kids | baby | Food | ideas | christmas User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags cookies, pistachios, pistachio cookies, pistachio nuts, toffee Discuss this article
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More food tagsScrapbooking | holidays | weight loss | Coupons | children | Kids | baby | Food | ideas | christmas |
