Pistachio Snowball Cookies
- Level: Easy
- Yield: about 24 pistachio snowball cookies
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- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 24 servings
- Calories
- 186
- Total Fat
- 9
- Saturated Fat
- 5
- Carbohydrates
- 24
- Dietary Fiber
- 1
- Sugar
- 15
- Protein
- 2
- Cholesterol
- 20
- Sodium
- 50
- Total: 1 hr 15 min (plus cooling)
- Active: 45 min
Ingredients
3/4 cup raw unsalted pistachios
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons green gel food coloring
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Spread out the pistachios on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 5 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then transfer to a food processor. Process until finely chopped but not ground to a powder. Transfer the pistachios to a medium bowl; add the flour and salt and whisk to combine.
- Beat the butter and 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the pistachio mixture in 3 batches until fully combined.
- Scoop tablespoonfuls of dough; roll into balls. Arrange 1 inch apart on an unlined baking sheet and refrigerate 30 minutes.
- Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the cookies are very lightly browned and dry to the touch, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar in a food processor. With the motor running, add 2 teaspoons green food coloring and process until the sugar is green; add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon food coloring, if desired, and process to combine. Remove the green sugar to a wide shallow bowl; it should feel like sand.
- Let the cookies cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then remove to a rack. Let cool 15 to 20 minutes more; they should be barely warm. (Do not roll the cookies in the colored sugar while hot or the coloring will bleed.) Break up any clumps of green sugar. Put the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar in a separate shallow bowl. Roll half the cookies in the green sugar to coat and the other half in the plain sugar. Return to the rack and let cool completely. Roll in the sugars again to coat.