PISTACHIO & CRANBERRY LEMON SHORTBREAD COOKIES

The holiday season begins here from today, officially that is. Schools have closed for a ten day holiday break for students, which means that I would be constantly fulfilling demands of providing  “something good” to eat to my daughter. I have yet to decipher this phrase which she uses so often now, yet when I ask her to be more specific, all she says with craving is the same words “something gooood”. No options that I provide her are approved and then with her eyes rolling (as if she never gets something good to eat in this house!) she simply walks away. I spoke to other mothers who have kids the same age and I learnt I wasn’t alone facing this dilemma of kids wanting “something good”. Almost all of them were equally frustrated, trying to feed their kid’s insatiable need for novel dishes on a daily basis. Perhaps all that she wants is fast food – pizzas, pastas, burgers, chocolate based desserts and non-veg stuff daily. It is so difficult to regulate a balanced diet for her anymore. She refuses to eat fruits and the day I make vegetable curry or legumes, I am greeted with grunts and “Really mom? That is all you could think to cook?” Sigh! It is tough being a Mum! Sigh! Sigh again…!

So, what do I do to uplift my spirit? I bake! As such, it is high time to post my favourite Christmas cookies. Although the initial thought was to bake chocolate biscotti but these festive cookies seemed more apt for the occasion. I baked a batch for us and then a second one for a dear friend of mine.

For Cookies

120 gm Butter

1/3C + 2 tbsp Caster Sugar

1½ tsp Lemon Zest

1½ C All Purpose Flour, loosely packed (do not tap the cup while filling the APF)

1/3 C dried Cranberries

¼ C Pistachios

¼ tsp Lemon Essence (optional)

¼ tsp Vanilla Essence (optional)

In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and butter till light and fluffy. Using a spatula, mix in the two essences and the lemon zest. Now stir in the flour and then the cranberries and pistachios.

Decant the mixture on a clean working area such as a kitchen top or slab and gently mix in everything using hands. Wrap the mixture/ dough in a cling wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and roll the dough in half mm thickness and using a cookie cutter cut out in shapes of your choice. Transfer the cookies on a greased baking sheet and bake for 12 – 15 minutes at 200 or till the edges turn golden brown.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for two minutes. Remove the cookies on a wire rack and cool completely before you begin with the glaze. (The cookies taste just as fine with out the glaze but I wanted to intensify the lemon flavor hence the glaze)

You will have left out dough from the cut outs. Work with the remaining dough in a similar fashion till all the dough is used.

For the glaze:

½ C Confectioner’s Sugar (icing sugar)

1 – 1½ tbsp Lemon Juice

Sift the sugar and add the lemon juice. Whisk them together to just assimilate them and drizzle over the cookies (cookies should be absolutely cool when you drizzle the glaze over them).

Yield: 30 cookies (my cookie cutter was a little over 2 inches in size)

Try these ones too…

Espresso Walnut Shortbread Cookies

Nan Khatai (Indian Shortbread Cookies)

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Masala Cookies (Savory Oatmeal Cookies)

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