Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits

The only problem with making biscuits is that they are just too tempting....   you know they won't last!   These chocolate and pistachio biscuits were recently featured in the Times Magazine, and were, I felt, a fitting choice for a TA weekend as the colours looked perfect with our uniforms!   Actually, they are delicious, and very, very easy to make.   I made these ones gluten free, but ordinary flour works too. The recipe calls for blanched pistachios - that sounded like too much hard work, so I used them straight from the packet.  Salted ones might be a bit strange, though....

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits

8oz/220g butter, softened

2.5oz/80g icing sugar

pinch of salt

1 egg

10oz/280g flour (rice flour works beautifully)

1oz/30g cocoa powder

2.5oz/80g whole blanched pistachios

Blend together the butter, sugar and salt, adding the egg, flour and cocoa powder.  Lastly, add the nuts (if you are using a mixer, put them in at the last moment, or the mixer’s blade cuts them up too much).  Chill the dough for an hour. 

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it into a long sausage about 1.5”/3cm diameter – I found this worked best being rolled in a piece of baking parchment, so your hands didn’t get sticky and the dough didn’t get caught on the work surface.   Put back in the fridge for 10 minutes and preheat the oven to 190 deg C.  

Cut the dough into ¼”/5mm slices (I used a serrated knife to get through the nuts).    Put the rounds onto a baking tray (more parchment here really helps!), and cook for about 10-12 minutes.  The recipe says it makes 50.    I reckon about 45 is more accurate.