Chanukah Recipes
Pistachio Cutouts
During Hanukkah, it's traditional to partake in homemade treats to commemorate the annual Jewish celebration of freedom. These specially shaped shortbread-style cookies, with decorative icing, help pass the venerated tradition from generation to generation.
Yield: 30 cookies; 1/2 cup icing
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup margarine (at least 80% vegetable oil)
- 1/3 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts
Confectioners' Sugar Icing
- 1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange juice + more, if needed
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cookies
- n a medium mixing bowl stir together flour and sugar.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut in margarine until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling.
- Stir in pistachios
- Form mixture into ball. Knead just until smooth. Wrap dough. Chill for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
- On a lightly floured surface roll the dough into a 10 x 6 inch rectangle. Cut the dough with decorative 2-inch cookie cutters or slice into thirty 2 x 1 inch strips. Place cut shapes or strips 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.
- Cool on sheet for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to wire rack; cool for 30 minutes.
- Decorate as desired with Powdered Sugar Icing.
- Store in a tightly covered container.
Confectioners' Sugar Icing
- In a large mixing bowl combine confectioners' sugar, orange juice and vanilla extract. Stir in additional juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the icing reaches piping consistency. If desired, tint a portion of the icing with food coloring.