I won't soon forget the allure of these saffron pistachio lace cookies. They first seduce with a touch of orange, then an earthy pistachio flavor, and finally a smooth, fragrant saffron finish.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time10 minutesmins
Total Time30 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 80cookies (Remember to cut the cookies as thin as you can or your yield will significantly drop.)
In a small bowl, add saffron to melted butter and let sit for five minutes.
In a food processor, pulse pistachios and sugar until nuts are very finely chopped. (I had some trouble slicing my chilled cookie dough later in this recipe and I think this would have been resolved if I had chopped the nuts more finely.)
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together saffron butter, pistachio-sugar mixture, almond extract, flour, orange zest, and orange juice.
Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Remove from refrigerator and roll into two 1/2" by 9" logs. Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment and freeze at least two hours.
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Using a very sharp knife, slice each log into 1/4" thick slices. Place sliced dough discs two inches apart from each other on parchment- or Silpat-lined cookie sheets. (The dough may crumble a little when you cut it. That's OK. Just push it back together with your fingers and it will all melt together in the oven.)
Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden.
Cool on cookie sheets. The cookies will fall apart if you lift them too soon.
Store layered between parchment in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.