Pistachio And Lemon Bites

Pistachio and Lemon Bites

This recipe makes about 30 cookies. The original recipe made a very dry and crumbly cookie known commonly as Russian Tea Balls or Snowballs and commonly baked at Holiday time.

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Ingredients: 12 tbsp. unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks of butter), at room temperature

3 tbsp. superfine sugar (also called fruit sugar)

1/2 cup pistachios (shelled and unsalted), chopped (not too finely)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. finely grated lemon rind

icing sugar (for dusting)

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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

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Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (using the paddle attachment) and mix on high speed until very light and fluffy (5 minutes). Add the pistachios and vanilla extract and mix on high speed for an additional 2 minutes. Add the flour and lemon rind and mix on low speed until the dough begins to come together. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and place on the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes. The cookies should be lightly golden. If not, bake for a few minutes more. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes before rolling in icing sugar. Enjoy!