A Weekend Baking Extravaganza

Christmas cookies are a big deal to me.  I bake around 500 cookies to give away to family, friends, clients and neighbors.  Although I should probably start picking my favorites and making them again each year, thus far, I change it up every year.

This year began with 5 cookies in mind.  A quick facebook poll landed me on:
Lemon Pistachio Shortbread
Lemon Raspberry Squares
White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Brownies
Oreo Truffles
Amaretto Truffles

I ultimately scrapped the last cookie because I was so tired already, but nonetheless, I still ended up making nearly 500 cookies.  From now until Christmas, I'll post a recipe a day for each cookie.  Today, we'll start with Lemon Pistachio Shortbread.  Shortbread itself is not an overwhelmingly sweet cookie.  The pistachios and lemon in this cookie make the flavor more complex than traditional shortbread.  This cookie is great with coffee or tea.

Ingredients:

For Cookies:
1 1/2 cups Butter (3 sticks), softened
1/2 cup (heaping) Confectioners sugar
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1 tsp Vanilla extract
3 cups Flour
1 cup Ground pistachio
1/2 tsp Salt

For Glaze:
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup Confectioners sugar

Method:
1.  If for times sake, you need to make these in one day, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.   If you are just making the dough today and baking tomorrow,  skip to step 2.
2.  In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in lemon zest and vanilla extract
3.  With the mixer running on low, add in pistachio, flour and salt and mix until fully combined.  Do not overmix or the dough will get hard.

...as an aside.  Normally with shortbread I will knead and roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter to finish these.  For Christmas cookies, I always want to go the easiest, fastest way, which is the roll and slice method.

4.  If you are baking today, take small sections of dough and roll into a log, about a 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter, depending on how big you want your cookie.  As you finish each section, place it in the freezer to let it harden up a little while you work on the other sections. If you are baking another day, wrap the log in saran wrap and place it in the refrigerator to cool overnight.
5. After the dough is a little bit firmer, slice the dough into circular cookies.  A batch should yield at least 40 cookies, depending on how big you made the diameter of the log.
6. Bake on a lined cookie sheet in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges get slightly golden.
7.  Cool the cookies fully to room temperature.  To make the glaze, mix lemon juice and confectioners sugar.  Drizzle over cookies.

Nutritional info:
118 calories
9.5 g carbs
8.3 g fat
1.675 g protein