About the Recipe
I have been wanting to try to make these cookies for a very long time. Like I mean, a few years. I was always too intimidated to try. They look so fancy and delicate, I thought they were only reserved for real pastry chefs, not a home baker like myself. But this cooking journey has finally brought me here. I woke up one morning and told myself, today is the day.
I won't lie, they were tricky. After studying a few different recipes online, I formulated my own using ground pistachios. It took me three tries to get the batter consistency right and the proper heat and baking time to make sure they crispened up properly but not too much as I wanted to be able to roll them into cigars. Timing is everything with these guys.
I guess the third time was the charm! When I finally got them, I was elated! Not only did they look real fancy, they tasted amazing! Buttery melt in your mouth wafers with a crunchy chocolate end. The pistachios just brought the cookies to another level. I just love the taste of pistachios. Needless to say, they were a big hit in my household and they barely lasted the evening.
Hope you guys will throw caution to the wind and try them out. Even if they don't work out perfectly the first time and look a bit messy, they will still taste amazing. I promise!
Ingredients
1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Pistachio Flour
(1/4 teaspoon Salt) if using unsalted Pistachios
4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened)
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
2 Egg Whites
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Dip:
2 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/4 cup Pistachios (Finely chopped)
Preparation
This recipe calls for very few ingredients and is an easy one to throw together. The tricky part comes when the cookies are baked and fresh out of the oven. But we will get to that later. First, prepare your ingredients. If you do not have ready made pistachio flour (or ground pistachios) it is easy to make. In fact, I prefer to make my own. For this recipe I used salted pistachios and so, left out using any extra salt in the recipe. If you are using unsalted pistachios however, I recommend adding it.
While you are preparing the batter, preheat your oven to 350F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Grind your pistachios in a food processor or small blender (I used my old Baby Bullet for this. I find it works really well for grinding nuts or small batches of things. Grind until you have a smooth powder (there may be some chunks left and that's ok, just get it down to looking as close to a flour consistency as possible. You'll see that at some point the oil in the nuts will start making it clump together a bit. This is when I say stop grinding. You don't want to get it too clumped up.
In a separate bowl, separate your egg yolks from your egg whites. You will just need the egg whites for this recipe.
Once you have your pistachio flour ready to go, grab a medium sized mixing bowl and mix the all-purpose flour and pistachio flour together. I used a whisk, I found it helped to undo the pistachio clumps. Add in the salt if you are using unsalted pistachios.
Next, using a hand mixer, mix in the softened butter, powdered sugar, egg whites and vanilla. Beat until you have a smooth creamy mixture.
Once you have achieved a nice creamy consistency, take a large spoon and scoop little batter circles onto your prepared baking sheet. Spread the batter with the back of your spoon in gentle circles until they are about 2mm thick. The thinner the better. You just want to make sure they are evenly spread so that one part of your cookie isn't thicker than the other as you want them to bake evenly.
Pop the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes.
Once they look golden brown (especially around the edges) you know they are ready to come out.
It is a quick bake and you will have to act relatively quickly once the come out.
Once you pull them out of the oven, let them cool down for a minute or two, but as soon as you can, with the help of a spatula, lift one of the ends of the circles and roll them into 'cigars'. Careful as they will still be hot, but you do not want to let them cool down too much as they will start to harden and crumble if you try to toll them. I found this to be the trickiest part in making these. But once you do one or two the rest will be easy.
If you do not care to have them in perfect cigar shapes, you can also use the side of a glass and form more of a taco shape with them.
When they are formed let them cool completely (15- 20 minutes).
In the meantime, you can prepare your chocolate sauce and pistachio crumble for dipping the ends into.
Chop up your chocolate and place in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave the chocolate in 15 second intervals, stirring each time until the chocolate has melted.
Finely chop your pistachios.
Once your tuiles have cooled. Dip one end into the chocolate and sprinkle with the pistachio crumbs while the chocolate is still runny.
Place your dipped cookies onto a plate or baking sheet and put into the freezer for 10 minutes (or until the chocolate has solidified).
Take them out and let them come back to room temperature before transferring them to a serving dish. This will let the chocolate warm up a bit and prevent the cookies from staying stuck to the plate.
Enjoy!