Lavender-Pistachio Linzer Cookies

May 16, 2020

“Pistachios are my favorite nut to use in baking. Besides imparting the most beautiful green color, pistachios add a unique sweetness and toasty flavor to any cookie or cake. These pistachio butter cookies are great on their own, but they’re even better when paired with a dreamy lavender-white chocolate ganache.” — Amy Ho

Reprinted with permission from Blooms and Baking by Amy Ho, Page Street Publishing Co. 2020

Ingredients

1 1/4cup all-purpose flour

1/2cup pistachio meal

1/2teaspoon salt

1/2cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3cup granulated sugar

1large egg yolk, room temperature

1teaspoon vanilla extract

powdered sugar, as needed

2/3cup white chocolate, finely chopped

1/2cup heavy cream

1/2teaspoon culinary-grade lavender, finely ground

Preparation

1. To prepare cookies, preheat oven to 350F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, pistachio meal, and salt. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until ingredients are incorporated and doug comes together in a ball, about 45 seconds. Shape dough into a disk, tightly wrap in plasic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.

3. Lightly flour work surface. With rolling pin, roll out chilled dough until 1/8 inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out cookies. For every cookie you cut, you will need to cut out an identical cookie, which will be the top cookie in the sandwich and have a cutout in the center. Place cookies on prepared baking sheet and use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out centers of half the cookies. Bake 6 – 8 minutes, or until bottoms are golden. Cool cookies on baking sheet 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

4. To prepare ganache, place white chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. In small saucepan over medium heat, heat cream 2 – 3 minutes, until it starts to lightly simmer. Remove cream from heat and pour on top of white chocolate. Let sit 2 – 3 minutes. Whisk until chocolate has fully melted. Whisk in lavender. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before using. If still runny, place in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

5. Dust all cutout cookies with powdered sugar. With a spoon, fill bottom cookies with large dollop of ganache and place cutout cookies on ganache immediately.