Shortbread (Cranberry Pistachio)

cranberrypistachioshortbreadcookies A buttery shortbread cookie with the red of sweet-sour dried cranberries and the bright green of pistachios.

3½ oz unsalted raw pistachios, toasted (100 g)
3 oz dried cranberries (85 g)
4 oz sugar (112 g)
8 oz butter, room temperature (227 g)
¾ tsp. sea salt
12 oz all-purpose flour, unbleached, sifted (340 g)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4).

Toast the pistachios for about 10 minutes until slightly brown. Remove from the oven and chop them.

Place the cranberries in a food processor and pulse until cranberries are chopped into small pieces. I use a mini-food processor and pulse about 10-15 times. Chopping them in the food processor helps ensure better distribution throughout the dough. You can also chop them by hand.

Place the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add all the flour at once. Turn the mixer to low speed and mix until all the flour is just combined. The dough will be crumbly at this point. Increase the mixer speed to medium and mix until the dough has completely come together. Add the pistachios and the cranberries and mix on low speed until they are well combined into the dough.

Turn the cookie dough out onto a lightly floured surface. You can turn it out onto a large piece of parchment paper or Silpat. Use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangle and lightly flour the top of the dough. Do not use too much flour, just enough to keep the rolling pin from sticking.

Roll the dough out to ½" thick. Use a 2" round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Place the cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet about 1" apart. Prick each cookie in the center with a fork. Pricking the cookies will ensure they bake in the center.

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Chilling the dough will help the cookies hold their shape when baking.

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C/130°C fan, Gas Mark 2).

Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes. The cookies will be a pale golden colour. They’re not supposed to turn golden brown. The bottoms of the cookies will be slightly brown.

Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them to a cookie rack.

The cookies can be stored in a container for about 1 week.

Makes 24 cookies.

Cook's Notes:

This cookie recipe works best when the flour, sugar and butter are weighed. Weighing the ingredients will ensure that you are not adding too much flour or too little sugar.
For the best results use good quality butter. Brands such as Challenge Butter, Land o Lakes and Tillamook work well in this recipe.