I've been doing lots of cookie baking lately, besides making them for friends and family, I also went to a cookie swap that my Italian/American club had this year. Each year I usually make most of my old standbys, but I always try to change things up and make something new and different. 
This year I tried these colorful and tasty Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies, the recipe is seen here, on Epicurious. I love the way they look with their square shape and the vibrant colors of the green pistachio's and red cranberries, that paired with the flavor of a shortbread dough, is a winning combination! They look cute peeping through cellophane bags tied with ribbon too, a great gift idea!
The recipe said they would last 5 days in an airtight container, well mine lasted 2 weeks and tasted just as good as the first day I made them. I kept them in a cool area, and they were perfect.So you can definitely make these in advance!
The colored sugar I used around the edges is what I had on hand, I tried to find plain white, but after 2 stores I gave up. Solid red, green, or white sugar would be really nice too.
At our cookie swap we had a Mandolin player who was treating us to beautiful Italian music, as we exchanged cookies, and of course sampled some along with our coffee.
Did you know there were different kinds of Mandolins?? I didn't!
The table was huge, everyone was told to bring 3 dozen each for the swap, along with extra for eating that night, the recipe, and a family story about the cookie if you wanted to, and last but not least a container to take your goodies home in!
We're in the process of making a club cookbook, so all these cookie recipes will be added into it.
This is peek into my container I brought home. Anyone else do a cookie exchange? It's really fun, and you end up with tons of variety!
The colored sugar I used around the edges is what I had on hand, I tried to find plain white, but after 2 stores I gave up. Solid red, green, or white sugar would be really nice too. At our cookie swap we had a Mandolin player who was treating us to beautiful Italian music, as we exchanged cookies, and of course sampled some along with our coffee. Did you know there were different kinds of Mandolins?? I didn't! The table was huge, everyone was told to bring 3 dozen each for the swap, along with extra for eating that night, the recipe, and a family story about the cookie if you wanted to, and last but not least a container to take your goodies home in! We're in the process of making a club cookbook, so all these cookie recipes will be added into it. This is peek into my container I brought home. Anyone else do a cookie exchange? It's really fun, and you end up with tons of variety!Happy Baking!!
