Tis the season! Pistachio Cranberry Snowflake Cookies – the perfect holiday cookies.
Holiday baking at my house is in full swing. I am baking dozens of these Pistachio Cranberry Snowflake Cookies, donuts and cherry pie bars to give away to friends, co-workers and loved ones. I love this time of the year, when it’s crispy cold outside with snowy sidewalks, but it’s nice and cozy inside. We wear pajamas most of the day while playing Christmas tunes. There’s nothing like singing along to All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey at the top of your lungs, (sorry, neighbors!) and making the whole house smell great while baking cookies.
I love that the holiday season comes with a little bit of magic towards the end of the year and often makes us more generous to our fellow humans. It’s great that so many families make cookie baking traditions to share them with friends and family. And now, being a mother myself, I’m determined to start our family traditions that my son will grow up on. And, who knows, maybe even pass on to his kiddos someday. Am I hormonal or is this the most precious mom job ever?
Something about the simplicity of shortbread cookie from the start and how mixing in some different flavors can upgrade a simple cookie to a grand cookie. These pistachio cranberry snowflake cookies are lightly spiced with cardamom and cinnamon which add a nice winter warmth to them. Pistachios and cranberry not only get a nice crunch and tartness, but also add to the holiday colors – red and green!
You can whip up the dough ahead of time, and, when you are in the mood for cookies, you can use the dough from the freezer, bake up a batch or two, and make the house full of delectable scents. Then sandwich the two cookies together with some simple buttercream between them, and let it snow on your cookies. Because a dusting of powdered sugar makes a cookie look as dreamy as a just-fallen snowflake.
- Dough
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp vanilla yogurt
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped pistachios
- 1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries
- Buttercream
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg white for egg wash, lightly beaten
- In a mixer bowl beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the next five ingredients and beat until combined, scrapping bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and yogurt. Then beat in flour, portion at a time. Stir in pistachios and cranberries. Form a dough ball, cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly spray a cookie sheet and set aside.
- Once the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and divide onto 4 portions. On a floured working surface roll a portion of dough until 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Using a 7 cm (3 inch) snowflake shaped cookie cutter, cut out dough. Reroll the scraps as necessary. Place the snowflakes on the prepared cookie sheet. Using a small snowflake shaped cookie cutter, cut and remove a snowflake from the centers of half of the cookies. Brush cookies with egg white and bake for 6 minutes or until the edges start turning golden. Remove cookies to cool on a wire rack.
- Beat butter until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until creamy and reach spreading consistency.
- Spread buttercream on bottoms of cookies without cutout centers. Sandwich with cookies with cutout center bottoms side down. Dust with powdered sugar
So delicious and pretty!
Thanks so much Charlene!
What a great recipes that you share and your cookies look so good. I haven’t have time yet to bake for the Holidays. It will be next week.
Thank you so much! I hope you give these cookies a try as well!
Love a good shortbread cookie and these are so pretty and with lovely flavors!
Thanks so much Nicoletta! Happy holidays!
These are so pretty I’d want to put them on my tree….and then eat a few every day….
Thanks Ayngelina!