Pistachio Snails
Christmas baking

I don’t know about you, but I rely on classic recipes when it comes to Christmas baking. I know what my family likes, so I focus on traditional family recipes. Nevertheless, it does not hurt to experiment and try something new once in a while. So this year, I also decided to bake these pistachio Christmas cookies – and what a surprise – the whole family liked them! I even had to hide the box of the baked cookies so that they would not all be eaten before Christmas 🙂 . They taste really great, I was just a little disappointed that the characteristic green color of the pistachios disappeared after baking. But never mind!

Pistachio Snails

We need:

150 g pistachios

240 g flour

160 g butter

80 + 100 g powdered sugar

1 egg

pinch of salt

1 tsp of lemon zest

lemon juice

Method:

Grind the pistachios (they don’t need to be completely fine), mix with 100 g of sugar and lemon zest. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. The whole mixture must be moist. From flour, butter, 80 g of sugar, eggs and salt, make a dough, divide it into two halves and roll a rectangle with a shorter side of about 15 cm from each half of the dough. Spread the pistachio mixture on the dough and carefully wrap in a roll. Wrap the rolls in food foil and leave in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, cut the rolls into 7 mm thick pieces, put them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake at 170°C for about 20 minutes.

I am happy that the pistachio snails have proved to be a successful Christmas recipe. What‘s more, they have brought me back to the memories of my trip to Iran. Iran is the largest producer of pistachios in the world (more than half of the world production). The counters in the local markets are full of these nuts, even pistachios that are still wrapped in their mauve-coloured peel are sold. We also saw pistachios growing on the tree.

If you ever go to Iran, be sure to buy at least a handful of fresh pistachios or taste Iranian sweets made from these nuts. And if you don’t plan to visit Iran, read my article about Persepolis or at least bake these Christmas cookies. I took the pictures of them in the bowl I brought from Iran. 🙂

Text: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri
Fotos: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri