Lemon Pistachio Pretzel Cookies

Now fully immersed in the delights available on this site, I rarely buy cookbooks for baking anymore. A recent trip to a gem of a cookbook shop located in the Village, I stumbled on this little chubby book with the most unusual cookie recipes. This one stuck me immediately and alone may be worth the price. Saving this for my holiday trays but may just break down and make them sooner.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 48
• Yields: 4 dozen

Ingredients

• Cookie

• 3⁄4 cup sweet butter, softened
• 1  cup confectioners' sugar
• 2  teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated or chopped
• 1  egg
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  lemon extract
• 2  cups all-purpose flour

• Finishing

• 1 1⁄2 cups  sifted confectioners' sugar
• 2  tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 -2  tablespoon water
• 1⁄3 cup pistachios, chopped

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter at medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add the confectioners sugar and lemon peel,continuing to beat until combined.
3. Beat in the egg and lemon extract.
4. Beat in as much of the flour as you can using your mixer. When no longer able, use a large wooden spoon to mix in the rest by hand.
5. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for 30 to 60 minutes.
6. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
7. After chilling, take each disk and roll into a 12 inch long log. Snip each log into 24 1/2 inch pieces.
8. Take each cookie nugget and roll into an 8 inch long rope. Form a pretzel shape by bringing the piece together to form a circle with about a 1 inch tails on either side. Take each of the ends and cross it over the circle and attach to the opposite side. Press lightly to seal.
9. Place the "pretzels" 2 inches apart on baking sheets lightly treated with cooking spray. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden brown. remove from pan and let cookies cool on a rack.
10. To prepare the glaze, mix together the confectioners sugar, lemon juice and enough water to achieve a glaze consistency. Brush each cookie with the glaze. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
11. Let stand until glaze has set.