Preheat oven to 350F
Cranberry Pistachio Cornmeal Cookies
(Makes 5 dozen cookies)
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 3 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup chopped pistachios plus an additional 1/3 cup for garnishing
- 1 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal. Set aside.
In a stand mixer or with a hand beater, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix for another minute, scraping down the sides as you go. Add the vanilla and the almond extract and mix until blended in, less than a minute.
Add the flour-cornmeal mixture in three additions, mixing just to incorporate each time. Fold in the cup of pistachios and the cranberries.
Place about a rounded teaspoon of dough for each cookie on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I like to use an ice cream style small portion scoop for the sake of uniformity but you can free style drop them, or gently form your teaspoons of dough into a circle and then press them slightly.
Bake for seven minutes, rotate your cookie sheet, and bake for another seven minutes until the cookies are slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for a minute on the sheet pan before removing to a cooling rack.
Icing:
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- About 5 Tb of water
In a small bowl, mix the confectioner’s sugar with water and mix well to a thin consistency. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush each cookie with the icing and sprinkle with the remaining pistachios as you go. It’s best to do both steps to each cookie before moving onto the next one so that your icing doesn’t dry before you add the pistachio garnish.
