Pistachio Floral Shortbread Cookies

Oh has this “shelter in place” got me doing all sorts of things. My friend Dani over at Magnolias Yarden ( a garden that is in her yard ) gave me some beautiful dried flowers to play around with. 

I found a similar recipe from Beneath The Crust, and decided to add my own little twist to these already delicious shortbread cookies!

These cookies aren’t too sweet, but the white chocolate icing balances that out really well. That and the colorful dried flowers on top make for perfect little treat with your tea or coffee to brighten up your morning. I dropped a few of these off on my neighbors porch and they all seemed to love them. 

Pistachio Rose Shortbread Cookies with White Chocolate Glaze 

ingredients: cookies

• 10 tablespoons (5 oz) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 1 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted.
• 1/2 cup dry roasted pistachios, finely chopped –setting 1 tablespoon aside
• 1 tablespoon food-grade dried flowers (roses or otherwise)
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• Optional: For a more floral taste you can add  1/2 tsp of rose water

Glaze

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons 1/2 & 1/2
• garnish: reserved chopped pistachios, extra dried florals 

How to make pistachio shortbread cookies

Making these flower infused cookies couldn’t be easier! First you will need to beat the butter, sugar, salt, rose petals and orange zest together. Then add the pistachios (don’t forget to leave a tablespoon out for garnish) 

Next, add the sifted flour until all combined and crumbly. Knead the dough back together until smooth and roll it out to about 1/4” thick. You can do this directly on your countertop, a silicone mat, or even some plastic wrap. Using your cookie-cutter, cut out cookies and place them evenly spaced on baking sheets.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place cookies in freezer to chill while the oven preheats. Then bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until the edges slightly begin to golden

While the cookies bake, heat the chocolate chips and 1/2 1/2 in the microwave in 15-30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted. Set aside to cool.

Once the cookies completely cool, spread a small amount of glaze on top of each cookie. For best results, you can pipe an outline with the glaze first, and then fill it in. Make sure to garnish with chopped pistachios and dried florals before the glaze dries completely. 

Tips for making Pistachio Rose/Floral Shortbread Cookies

• If you like the finer texture of pistachios for your toppings (and don’t want to hand chop them all), you can pulse your pistachios in a Nutri bullet or food processor.
• These shortbread cookies don’t have much of a floral taste, but adding the 1/2 tsp of rose water will really up the ante for that floral essence.
• You can use any shape/sized cookie cutter, but using a 2” cookie cutter made for the perfect bite sized cookies.