Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cookies
First off, the changes.
1 TBSP Orange ZEST
Instead of a regular orange, I had mandarin oranges I needed to use. The last ones were too tart and bitter so I needed to find a way to use these. Because they are small, it makes it a little difficult to grate the rind. Toss them in the freezer for a couple of hours and they firm up and it's easier to grate.
Second, I was left with the insides of the little oranges. I sliced them and put them in water to make a simple orange water. I dealt with the residual bitterness with a single packet of Sweet N Low.
In the end, I boiled the remains of the oranges to (1) make a natural scent for the house and (2) ran the boiling water down the drain with baking soda and vinegar to freshen and clear the drains naturally. I have a drain sieve to catch the pulp and peel remaining. The dregs ended up in the compost. Bitter, tart mandarins GONE!
Many hints will say 1 orange =3 TBSP rind. I used 1 TBSP of rind.
CARDAMOM Freshly ground, not bought as ground
I am fortunate to have access to international markets where I can buy spices much cheaper than regular grocery stores. Further, the spice selection is better and not limited to holiday specials. I have Cardamom pods and ground Cardamom on hand. But what drew me to this recipe is the focus on Cardamom. I've had store bought Cardamom cookies/biscuits thanks to places like Patel Brothers and Cherian's but only used the spice in teas and savory dishes at home before today.
I cracked open the pods which have numerous seeds within. I used my mortar and pestle to break down the seeds. It was never fully ground into a powder but I did try, arthritis and all. I wanted the freshness, the strength of the flavor that comes from crushing the seeds by hand.
NO ALMOND EXTRACT
I hate almond extract. Hate! It overwhelms other flavors and I'd rather use real almonds and have a complimentary flavor to other things. As the recipe calls for 1/3 cup pistachios, I thought that was enough enough nuts. This is a small batch recipe, 16 count total averaging about 2-3 inches, 1/3 inches high each. 1/3 cup of nuts is very generous especially since they are crushed. Instead, I had oranges so I just put in 1 TSP orange juice instead. I had thought of a reduction of the juice but for one teaspoon, I figured why bother.
SALTED BUTTER
I hate unsalted butter and never have it on hand. I have yet to find a recipe where using salted instead of unsalted has ever altered the balance of flavor so I use salted butter and don't bother adjusting salt quantities.
FLAVORING THE MILK IN THE ICING
I wanted to have a simple glaze with a complimentary flavor. I boiled a 1/4 cup of whole milk and steeped one Lady Grey Tea Bag in it. The one cup of powdered sugar needed 3 TBSP to liquify so I used 2 TBSP of the tea flavored milk and 1 TBSP of left over orange juice. When the icing hardened between batches I added half teaspoons of orange juice as needed. The leftover flavored milk can be used for more icing or in your hot tea. Just remember to follow the rules to steep tea. Boil the liquid. Careful not to scald the milk in this case. Remove from heat. Add tea bag. Steep: Generally, 5 minutes will do. Squeeze the tea bag into the milk and remove the bag.
One more note.
We buy large 34 ounce jars of unsalted mixed nuts. We not only snack on them but use some in recipes. There were just enough pistachios for the recipe plus topping. I had to sort out the cashews anyway for a cashew butter veggie-soy-chicken Indian dish. Normally pistachios are just too expensive to keep around.
CHANGING THE ORDER OF THINGS
I don't like to waste time and since this had no leavening agents other than salt and a single egg, I started with mixing the butter and sugar. Mixed in the egg. Then I put in the orange juice substitute for the extract, zest, Cardamom, and salt. Mixed well, then added in the flour. After the flour was mixed it, the nuts were squeezed in by hand. I shaped it, chilled it, and cut it. 350F for 13 minutes until the edges had just begun to brown. While they baked I whipped up the icing.
TASTING
I started by making four cookies. Peter and I tried two hot split between iced and not iced. Then we let the other two completely cool and tried those also iced and plain. We both preferred them hot and iced. Cooling brought out more of the pistachio flavor and diminished the spice flavoring. This is normal as spice is often enjoyed by scent and taste. Cooling took the spice scent to the background and the abundance of pistachios prevailed when the cookies reached room temperature.
The glaze/icing is a matter of personal choice and many times I just leave it off things. Hot things merit a glaze more often for me, but the extra sweetness is sometimes distracting. I generally leave glaze as an option. By changing the flavor profile with the addition of orange juice and especially the tea, the glaze brought something different to dish.
I had a few bits of chopped pistachios left over which I also added to every other cookie. I found the recipe's suggestion of rose petals off putting. (I also shun rose flavor things like Turkish Delight.)
BTW, if you ever have left over glaze, consider using it to sweeten your hot drinks. Mostly it's just milk and sugar, sometimes vanilla and citrus and those are nice additions to tea and, I hear, to coffee also. Yes, I am a tea drinker. No coffee for me. Too bitter, never liked it!
Cookies
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 156 grams (My go to bread flour did the job!)
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom (I used fresh ground)
1 large orange zested (1TBSP mandarin zest)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter 1 stick (8TBSP) or 114 grams unsalted butter, softened (SALTED is fine)
½ cup granulated sugar 95 grams (not confectioners/icing/decorating sugar or raw sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract 5 milliliters (Bleck! I used 1 TSP Orange juice)
⅓ cup pistachios shelled and chopped (UNSALTED)
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar 130 grams
1 tablespoon milk 1 to 3 tablespoons or 15 to 45 milliliters (See note above: FLAVORING THE MILK IN THE ICING)
Decorating sugar or ground pistachios for garnish (Optional)
Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, shape into a 2 x 12-inch (5 x 30-cm) log and wrap tightly with the plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm and chilled through.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the plastic wrap and slice into ⅓-inch (8-mm) thick slices. Place the slices onto the prepared baking sheet, 1 inch apart, and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until slightly golden on the edges. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature.
