I never made a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, and, really, I still don’t. My wife is just the same way. To us, it’s just a made up holiday, heavily marketed by Hallmark to make people feel guilty for being single. That doesn’t mean I don’t try to do something special for my wife; in fact, for our first Valentine’s Day, I made her a delicious dish of aromatic pistachio rice with apricot marinated chicken pieces. Usually, we’d rather opt for “just-us” time, over a candle-lit dinner in our own home.
So, this year should be no different, at least in terms of making something special. I’ve just really started getting into baking, and I’m learning more and more each recipe I try. In this formative phase, I usually just stick to a recipe as written. But, with a basic recipe as a foundation, it’s easy to come up with something unique and delicious. Inspired by the Valentine’s Day holiday, I came up with this delicious, pink cookie, reminiscent of Neapolitan’s cousin.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound of butter (2 sticks), softened
- 3/4 cup of white sugar
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1-12 ounce jar of maraschino cherries, drained and chopped; reserve 2 tablespoons of the liquid
- 1 cup of shelled, coarsely chopped pistachios
- 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
- 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
Procedure
Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add the vanilla and salt; stir. With your mixer on low, add the cherries, cherry juice, and pistachios. Finally, incorporate the flour until the dough is stiff enough to hold a spoon upright, but still soft enough that you can easily push through. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees; drop the dough onto a cookie sheet by rounded teaspoonfuls. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be done, but soft. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, line some cookie sheets with wax or parchment paper and melt the chocolate in a double boiler. When the chocolate has melted, dip the cooled cookies, covering half and allowing the excess to drip-away, then place them on the baking sheet. Allow the chocolate to set in the refrigerator before serving. Recipe yields approximately 60, 1 1/2 inch diameter cookies.
Some hints
I can never find pistachios already shelled, so cooking with them is always a big chore because of having to shell and sift through them myself. But, the good thing is that I can see if a pistachio is good and can toss out the over-roasted ones. If you have to do this yourself, make sure your pistachio is nice and green. Brown is bad and leads to a burnt taste:
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You could also melt your chocolate in the microwave, but I find that using a double boiler gives me more control. Simply fill a pan with water, and top with a glass or stainless steel bowl, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, bring the water to a boil, and turn off the heat. Continue stirring the chocolate until it has completely melted. If it starts to harden again, pick up some speed and turn the heat back on.
Beyond that, this is a very simple cookie and a delightful treat! And, dipping them in chocolate is a nice touch–your sweetie will think you spent the world at the bakery, but will be even more touched to see that you did it all yourself. Happy Valentine’s day!
This post originally published at Just Baking on February 13, 2007.
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