I hope everyone had an enjoyable, delicious, fun-filled Thanksgiving. Now that we’ve gotten through that milestone of the 2011 Holiday season, we can start talking about Christmas cookies! One of our family’s favorite parts about December is baking and decorating Christmas cookies (and listening to Christmas music).
Last year we added a new cookie to our repertoire, the Chocolate Gingerbread Men that I featured as a part of the Holiday Recipe Exchange. That twist on a classic gingerbread cookie ended up being one of our favorite cookies from 2010.
Because I like taking favorite recipes and tweaking them with new flavors, I thought I’d do the same thing this year. I used a recipe I’ve made before for Swedish Crescent Cookies and added orange zest and pistachios to switch things up a bit.
Pistachios have always been one of my favorite nuts and I think they taste great with orange. Crescent Cookies are easily adaptable with whatever nuts you have on hand or enjoy the most.
The OXO Good Grips Small Cookie Scoop is the perfect size for these cookies. You can shape them as crescents as the name implies, or just roll the portioned amount from the scoop into pretty little balls. I love to use cookie scoops to ensure evenly proportioned cookies.
Since you’ll be digging out your favorite recipes for Christmas cookies soon, if you haven’t already, you’ll definitely want to participate in this week’s Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by OXO. Why? Because the theme is Christmas cookies of course!
Join Jamie and me this week in sharing your recipes for your Favorite Christmas Cookies for a chance to win a great cookie baking utensil gift set from OXO. OXO offers some seriously awesome kitchen gadgets and I know you’ll love the tools in today’s selection. They were selected with the purpose of making your Christmas cookie baking a little bit simpler.
Now, we want to know what your favorite Christmas cookie is, so join in on the fun and link up your recipe for a chance to win this fab OXO set! Check out Jamie’s Rum Balls.
Pistachio Orange Crescent Cookies
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes, plus chilling
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus additional for coating
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup very finely chopped pistachios
zest of one orangeDirections:
In a bowl, beat the butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, yolk. Beat till combined. Slowly stir in the in the flour, nuts, and zest.
For the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc shape. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove a heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, shaping into crescent shapes.
Arrange about 1 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until cookies are lightly golden around the edges, about 15-20 minutes. While still warm, coat the cookies with confectioners sugar. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For a chance to win an OXO Cookie Baking Utensil Gift Set valued at $150.88 (details of prize specifics below):
Love any of the recipes featured in today’s Holiday Recipe Exchange? If so, be sure to to use the Ziplist Web Recipe Clipper to add your holiday favorites to your online recipe box.
Cookie Baking Utensil Gift Set valued at $150.88
Prizes provided by OXO.
Click here to print. (ads will not print)
