Pistachio Cookie Tree Recipe

How to make it

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• Cream butter in large bowl.
• Beat in sugar, egg yolk and extract.
• Add flour and 3 cups pistachios, a portion at a time.
• Roll out portions of dough on floured board to 1/4-inch thickness.
• Cut into oval "cloud" shapes of three different sizes,
• making equal numbers of each size.*
• Gently drill hole slightly off-center in each, using a chopstick or dowel.
• Place on baking sheets.
• Bake at 350*F for 10 minutes, then cover loosely with foil to prevent excessive browning.
• Continue baking for 12 to 14 minutes or until centers are crisp.
• Cool on cookie sheets until sturdy enough to move.
• Finish cooling on wire racks.
• To assemble tree, pipe icing onto outer edge of each cookie and sprinkle with pistachios while icing is still wet.
• When dry, stack cookies on dowel glued into hole in wooden base.**
• Top tree with cardboard star decorated with in-shell pistachios.
• Makes about 20 cookies.
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• *Suggested measurements:
• Cookie "clouds": Roughly 6 1/2 inches, 5 1/2 inches, and 4 inches across.
• Dowel: 10 inches high, 1/4 inch thick;
• **Wooden base: 8 inches wide, with 1/4 inch hole in center.