ORANGE CRANBERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES
Cardamom is the new cinnamon. Cardamom is an amazing spice. It’s highly fragrant, citrusy, minty, and herbal all at the same time.
HOW TO MAKE THESE PRETTY LITTLE COOKIES:
These cookies are actually fairly simple: flour, butter, honey, sugar, salt, egg yolk and of course, cardamom. After making the dough you roll it into two logs and chill for two hours. Then slice, roll into balls, dip in chopped pistachios and bake.
HOW TO GET THE “THUMBPRINT”:
That thumbprint is achieved by removing the cookies from the oven 2/3 of the way through baking time and using the bottom of a wooden spoon, or whatever you have on hand to press that thumb like indentation into the cookie, just don’t use your actual thumb, that would hurt. After making the thumbprints, return the cookies to the oven to finish baking. While cookies bake you make the cranberry filling!
THE FILLING:
The filling is made by cooking fresh cranberries in orange juice, orange zest and sugar. Then simply spoon the tart filling into the ‘thumbprint’. If you prefer, you can bake the cookies a day before serving, but add filling shortly before serving.
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Prep time
Cook
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Total
Yield 30 cookies
Ingredients
The Cookies:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (you can use gluten free flour, or grain free cassava flour)
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract (I prefer paste)
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup honey
zest of one orange
3/4 cup raw pistachios, chopped finely
The Filling:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup fresh cranberries
zest of one orange
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Whisk flour, salt and cardamom in a bowl and set aside
Add soft butter and sugar to mixer and mix until well incorporated
Add vanilla, egg yolk, honey and zest of orange (see instructions above)
Mix well, remove dough from mixer and separate evenly into two balls, then shape and roll each ball into a 9″ log
Wrap each log in parchment paper, making sure it’s as air tight as you can get it, place in a airtight glass container with lid and put in the fridge for two hours (or wrap in plastic, I just hate using plastic). If you only want to cook half a batch you can freeze dough for up to a month.
Chop pistachios
After dough has chilled for two hours, preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover a cookie sheet with parchment
Remove one log at a time from the refrigerator, unwrap and slice into 15 rounds
Use both of your palms to roll each slice into a ball and dip one half of ball into chopped pistachios, repeat with all the dough and set cookies on cookie sheet with 2″ space on all sides
Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes, remove from oven and use the round end of a wooden spoon (or what ever works to create the ‘thumbprint’ in each cookie). Return the cookies to the oven and bake for five more minutes.
While cookies bake, make cranberry filling:
Zest orange and set zest aside
Juice oranges and add 1/2 cup juice to a small sauce pan
Add cranberries and bring to a boil
Turn heat down to a simmer, add zest and sugar stirring frequently for 5 minutes
Turn off heat and allow to thicken
When cookies are done baking, remove form oven and place on a cooling rack
Use a small spoon to add cranberry filling to each thumbprint, serve warm or cool
You can make cookies a day ahead storing in an airtight container, but add filling no more than an hour or two before serving.