Holiday season means cookie season! I love baking cookies any time of the year, but especially this time of the year it is so much more fun, and they make perfect edible gifts.
It is a fun activity with the family as well, especially baking with kids. They enjoy the process, and decorating the cookies with them is so enjoyable. I have been testing cookie recipes, and I love trying different variations with shortbreads.
Inspiration for the Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pistachio Buttercream
Citrus zest adds so much flavor to any cookie and simply brightens up the cookie and takes it to the next level in my opinion. I love adding citrus to my cookies, especially in the holiday season.
These shortbreads have orange zest and crusted pink peppercorn in them, to add a slight kick and fruity taste. Also the dough looks so pretty with the red and orange specks throughout!
Citrus and pistachios is a match made in heaven too. So the combination of citrus, pink peppercorn and pistachios truly works.
Ingredients for the Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pistachio Buttercream
The ingredients for the Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pistachio Buttercream are:
Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread
- All purpose flour + additional flour for rolling
- Almond flour
- Table salt
- Pink peppercorn, finely crushed
- Unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Orange zest
- Vanilla extract
Pistachio Buttercream
- Unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Pistachio cream
- Vanilla extract
- Table salt
- Powdered sugar
How to make the Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pistachio Buttercream
The Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread is a very easy recipe. The recipe instructions call for using a stand mixer, BUT you can make this whole recipe without a stand mixer. I have tried it both ways and it works well.
Softened butter is the KEY! The butter has to be room temperature soft. If it is not soft enough, put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften it further.
Cream the butter and sugar using a spatula, in a large bowl. Add the vanilla, orange zest and mix to combine. Next add the flour, almond flour and pink peppercorns into the mixture.
The pink peppercorns are finely crushed. I use a mortar and pestle to crush it and add it to the dry mixture.
- Where can I find pink peppercorns?
- Pink peppercorns can be found at your local grocery store, or find it online on Amazon here.
The dry ingredients are mixed with the wet ingredients to form a dough. Do not overmix, else your cookies will not be crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. The dough is wrapped in plastic wrap and set to firm in the fridge for half an hour. I love seeing the pink and orange speckles together.
Roll out the dough into ¼ inch thick and use a cutter to cut the cookies. I love the square fluted cutter, it looks pretty and is simply unique too. I use a tiny star cutter to cut shapes in the middle, this step is completely optional.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown in color.
- Where do you get the square fluted cookie cutter from?
- The square cookie cutter can be found at Amazon. This is the one that I have.
To make the Pistachio Buttercream, I use pistachio cream in a normal vanilla buttercream recipe. I use a Wilton round tip, placed in a 12 inch piping bag, to pipe a spiral buttercream pattern on the square cookie. It is visually pleasing and covers most of the cookie.
Want to decorate it fancy?
Take it up a notch by dipping the top cookie into white chocolate, and sprinkling pistachios and pink peppercorn on the white chocolate and maybe add a dusting of gold sprinkles to provide that festive touch!
Want to make your own pistachio paste/cream?
When I made these cookies in 2017, I made my own pistachio paste using a Pierre Herme recipe that I found online, the link is here. The buttercream is extremely flavorful and combined with the orange and chocolate, this combination is utterly divine!
How can I store the cookies?
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in a cool place, for upto 10 days.
Are these cookies shippable?
Yes, the cookies are shippable in the cold weather ( since it contains buttercream).
What kind of pistachio cream do you use for the buttercream?
I use the Pisti brand and it is absolutely delicious and a beautiful green color as well.
Other popular holiday cookies on my blog are:
- Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie Sandwich with Bailey’s Buttercream
- Pina Colada Thumbprints
- Matcha Sakura Wicked Sugar Cookie
If you make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post.
XO
Amisha
**First published on December 17, 2017**
Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pistachio Buttercream
Ingredients
Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread
- 1 cup (135 grams) all purpose flour + additional flour for rolling
- 1/3 cup (40 grams) almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pink peppercorn, finely crushed
- 1 stick, 113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pistachio Buttercream
- 6 tablespoons, 85 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons pistachio paste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Garnish
Dusting of powdered sugar
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method
Orange Pink Peppercorn Shortbread
- In a medium bowl, add all purpose flour, almond flour, salt and pink peppercorn and whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, orange zest and mix till well blended for about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract. Blend again. Add in flour mixture and mix again until incorporated.
- Place the dough in a plastic wrap, cover and shape it into a square about 1 inch thick. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove from the fridge, and roll out the dough on a floured surface into ¼ inch thick. Cut out whatever shape you want with cutters. Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper, and into the oven for about 10-12 minutes until the shortbread cookies are light golden brown in color.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
Pistachio Buttercream
- In a medium bowl, add the butter and pistachio cream, and whip it with a hand mixer for 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract. Add the salt and powdered sugar and slowly mix it so that the sugar does not spread everywhere! Increase the speed gradually to medium to mix the sugar with the butter for 1 minute, until well blended.
Assembly
In a 12 inch pastry bag, with a round tip inserted, add the buttercream into the bag, twist and close it tight by pushing the buttercream down as much as possible. Keep it aside inverted in a tall glass.
- Turn half the cookies upside down, and pipe half of them with the buttercream.
- Press the top of the cookie onto the piped cookie. Dust it with powdered sugar.
Note:
- Cut out a shape on the top cookies to have a peak-a-boo moment for the pistachio buttercream.
- You can also dip the top half of the cookie in melted white chocolate or dark chocolate for decorating them differently. Garnish with finely chopped pistachios and crushed pink peppercorn.
