NCOTB #2 Orange, Pistachio and Chocolate Shortbread (New Cookies on the Block)
Yay, the Twelve Seven Eight Days of Christmas Cookies!
The best-laid plans of mice and me…sometimes need a tweak. Actually, not to pat myself on the back or anything, I think I did pretty “good”. In between holiday baking we took a quick trip to Seattle. Four days of eating, walking, visiting the Space Needle and the Chihuly Garden and Glass, and watching the Forty-Niners beat the Seahawks! I still managed to bake 8 days of Christmas cookies!
Our holiday cookie box is a mix of old and new cookies. The tried and true include Scottish Shortbread, Jan Hagel’s (my mom’s favorite), Pecan Tartlets, and the mandatory jam-filled cookie, Dorie’s Jammers (the perfect choice).
The NCOTB (new cookies on the block, a nod to all you boy band fans) include a couple from this year’s New York Times Holiday Cookies. My favorite of the bunch is Eric Kim’s Gochujang Caramel Cookies (I’ve made three batches already). Crispy edges, chewy center, buttery with a sweet kick from the Gochujang paste, it’s different and delightful. My other favorite (can you have two favorites?) is Sue Li’s Orange, Pistachio, and Chocolate Shortbread. Buttery shortbread studded with candied orange peel, green pistachios, and dark chocolate for a visually fun and tasty cookie.
Cookie Caveat
But, the first time I read through the recipe and NOTES (ALWAYS read the notes, foodies are not shy about sharing their opinion of a dish) it became clear that there were a couple of hitches in the recipe. My OCD-Sherlockian-Watson persona took over. I poured over the comments and scrutinized the measurements and directions (occupatinal hazard, I’m a pediatric pharmacist).
My dear NYTCooking – Something is afoot, there are discrepancies in the volumes and weights for this recipe, where are your editors? LOL. 3 cups of flour is not 419 grams. 3/4 cup of granulated sugar is not 175 grams. So, I set about to modify the recipe as best I could:
- I used 375 grams of King Arthur AP Flour aligning with std measurements for a cup since there were quite a few comments that the dough was too dry & crumbly.
- Sue Li commented once to use 175 grams of sugar, so that’s what I used. If there is wiggle room it would be with the sugar, use 150 grams for a not-as-sweet cookie.
- The butter is also off, I opted to go by weight not volume.
- I added 1 tsp vanilla, which couldn’t hurt plus added a bit more moisture.
The dough came together nicely. Do not overmix, once it starts to clump, stop and gather together.
The 8-hour chilling time in the original recipe allows the flour to absorb moisture and hold together. The modifications result in a nice, moist dough. You may not need an 8-hour chill time. The dough needs to be solid enough to slice and still hold its shape.
See how “purdy” the orange, green, and brown specks are?!
The finished cookie was buttery, with a fine crumb texture, with the candied orange, pistachios, and chocolate taking it over the holiday top. Luckily I squirreled away some dough in the freezer (the beauty of slice-and-bake cookies) that will be lovely on New Year’s Eve with a glass of bubbly!
Orange, Pistachio and Chocolate Shortbread
Ingredients
Flour Mixture
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375 grams)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt such as Diamond Crystal or 1/2 t table salt
Butter Mixture
- 1-1/4 cups unsalted butter (284 grams) at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (175gms) 175gms =
- 1 large egg yolk
Add-Ins
- 1/2 cup candied orange peel (76 grams) roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios (76 grams) roughly chopped
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using an electric mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale in color, about 2 minutes, periodically scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula (don't skip this, it makes a difference). Add egg yolk and blend until combined.
- Add flour mixture and mix on low until combined. If there are dried bits of flour left around the bowl, use a rubber spatula to smoosh them in with the dough. Add orange peel, pistachios and chopped chocolate, fold in with a rubber spatula. (The dough will be crumbly (although with the modifications, less so). If necessary, use the electric mixer to add the mix-ins, or work them in with your hands until fully incorporated.)
- To form the cookies, line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with plastic wrap and leave a generous amount of overhang on all sides. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press firmly to flatten in an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough for 8 hours or overnight before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using the plastic wrap overhang, remove the dough from the pan and cut the square into three equal rectangles. It's going to be tough to get out of the pan but just be patient and pull gently on the plastic to gradually remove from pan.
- Cut each rectangle crosswise into roughly 1⁄3-inch-thick slices and lay them flat on the prepared baking sheets, about 3⁄4-inch apart. (If the dough crumbles when slicing, simply push the mixture together to reform the cookie.) Bake until lightly golden on the bottom but still blonde on the edges, 15 to 17 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, allow cookies to cool on the sheets. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.