Pistachio Meringue Cookies

The Easiest Cookie I Have Ever Made!

With only 4 to 5 ingredients, how can you go wrong? Lately my inspiration for cooking has been do to having something that needed to be used before it expired. Not the most creative way to start a recipe but it seems to be working. In this case it was PISTACHIOS.

If you are a pistachio lover as I am, you're probably thinking that your bag of pistachios would never last in the house that long to even get close to an expiration date. Mine normally would'nt either, but I bought 2 large bags a few months ago and threw one of them in the back of a cabinet and forgot about it. It was like I hit the lottery when I happened upon it. So I started thinking of all the possibilities of what to do with this treasure as I pain stakingly shelled each beautiful green nut. After two broken nails and bits of shell under the others, I decided on cookies. Maybe a meringue for a change. So I started looking on line for inspiration and found this amazing recipe. Apparently it is of Syrian Jewish origin. I got the recipe from Off The Broiler who in turn found it in a 2004 article on JewishSF.com.

Whether you are Jewish or not, I am not, you will love these cookies! I did make a few alterations to the original recipe which only had 3 ingredients. I added almond extract and Nutella hazelnut spread. So I guess in my case they are Jewish/Italian Cookies! LOL...
Pistachio Meringue Cookies
1 1/2 cups shelled Pistachio nuts
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Nutella hazel nut spread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pistachios in a food processor and blend until finely ground. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with an electric hand-held mixer, until peaks start to form. Slowly add sugar to the egg whites and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add almond extract and continue beating for about 30 seconds. Add the ground pistachios and fold in with a spatula or wooden spoon, until fully incorporated.

With a cookie scoop or tablespoon, place the pistachio dough on a greased baking sheet (or line with parchment paper), leaving 1 inch between each cookie. Bake until lightly golden around the edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Cool 30 minutes before removing from the sheet or cookies may break.

Now the fun part, spread some Nutella on the tops of some of the cookies and top with a pistachio nut. Or, spread Nutella on the bottom of two cookies and press together to form pistachio meringue nutella sandwich. Enjoy. I know I did!