Istanbul is a vibrant, colourful, and culturally rich city in Turkey.

When I visited, I noticed that the use of pistachios is an integral part of Turkish desserts and pastry.

These nuts are oh-so-delicious. Once the pistachios have been shelled and washed, the vivid green shows up—it’s pleasantly attractive.

Pistachios are a rather unique kind of nut, identified by their green colour and individual distinct flavour. I was hoping that in this recipe the colour of the nuts would really reflect in the cookie, however, it chose to not lend itself to colour. Nevertheless, it certainly didn’t shy away from the flavour and texture.

Ingredients: 

125 g butter

100 g sugar

¼ tbsp lemon zest

1 egg

Pinch of salt

250 g cornstarch

100 g pistachios (shelled and chopped)

80 g dried pear (sliced in short thin strips)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, add the cornstarch, salt, pistachios, and pear. Mix, and set aside.

4. Add the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until creamy. If you do not have a stand mixer, your handheld electric mixer and a good old fashioned bowl will do.

5. Add the egg. Mix until fully incorporated.

6. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Mix until well combined. You should be able to roll the dough into a ball. It should be pliable enough to roll out and stamp out shapes with a cookie cutter. If it’s too sticky, add a little cornstarch to stop the stick.

7. Place the stamped out shapes on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes. The cookies will mostly remain light in colour.

8. Once removed from the oven, wait until they are completely cool before digging in. I seem to think that they taste better the next day.

P.S.: For this recipe, using weight measurements would be more accurate.

Enjoy!

~