Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies

By jeknudson

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, soft
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios (not red)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries/cranraisens
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten later
• 1/4 cup decorative sugar, pref coarse
• Special equipment: parchment paper

Preparation

Step 1

Beat butter, sugar, and zest in large bowl at med until pale and fluffy, Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 batches , mixing until doug just comes together in clumps, then mix in pistachios and cranberries. Gather and press dough together, then divide into 2 equal pieces. Using a sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper as an aid, form each piece of dough into a log about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Square off long sides of each log to form a bar, then chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until very firm, at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven (325-350), line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush egg over all 4 sides of bars. Sprinkle decorative sugar on a separate sheet of parchment or wax paper and press bars into sugar. Cut each bar crosswise into ¼ " slices, rotating bar after cutting each slice to help keep square shape..

Bake until pale golden, 15-18 minutes Transfer cookies from parchment to rack using a slotted spatula and cool completely..

Note: I used brazil nuts , chopped and cran raisens which I cut in half. This method worked best for me as whole nuts and cran raisens were too big when I went to slice the cookies. Other nuts can be used. Compare with Brazil nut cookies.