These shortbreads were made with a love for Italian spumoni in mind. Spumoni is usually pistachio and cherry ice cream, so the combination of the two is something I absolutely adore. Pistachios are nutty, smoky, and salty, while cherries are sweet and tart. In the case of this recipe, I used pistachio flour, made by grinding pistachios into a fine powder, for a natural pistachio flavor, and dried cherries(we call them “chaisins” in my household), just to keep everything relatively straightforward. What I love about making fruit-studded cookies like this is that they are very festive, being so fruit cake-esque in their aesthetic. Shortbreads in particular are a great cookie dough to use for that kind of technique because the dough can be easily shaped and molded, and it generally does not change too much during the baking process. I will admit that I was hoping that these would turn out more green, but since I didn’t add any green colorings to my pistachio flour, they came out a more yellow color, which at least is natural, even if it isn’t the festive green-red coloration that I was lowkey going for here. So if you want yours to turn out green, add a drop of green food coloring or 1 tsp of spirulina powder to get that color in. Green or yellow, these cookies are buttery, melt-in-the-mouth, and have a nice, roasty, pistachio flavor with the almost meaty chaisin bits in there. I personally recommend these with a nice mug of chamomile or earl grey, or even a hot chocolate since tis the season!

Makes 18-20 cookies:
For the pistachio dough:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup finely ground pistachios
1/4 cup dried cherries, finely chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk

In a food processor, blend everything together until a dough forms. Place the dough into cling wrap and roll into a 1 inch-wide log. Freeze the log solid before cutting into 1/4 inch-thick slides. Place the slices onto a parchment sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.