Pine Nut Cookies

Name: Pine Nut Cookies
Yield: makes about 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon ground fennel seed; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1 large egg; 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/4 cup pine nuts

December 9, 2011

Pine nuts and fennel seed aren’t necessarily ingredients you expect to find in cookies—really, they sound much more like they’re going into a pesto—but they’re the secret flavors in this buttery, flaky shortbread dough that will melt in your mouth. Ground fennel seed isn’t as easy to find as the whole seeds, so buy them whole and grind them at home in a mortar and pestle or coffee/spice grinder. I like to make this dough ahead of time and freeze it, then bake it off as needed.

Recipe notes

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