This recipe is excerpted from Amy Kritzer’s new cookbook Sweet Noshings.
What in the name of Elijah is a krembo, you may be asking. This chocolate-dipped mashmallow cookie magic is seen as a winter alternative to ice cream in Israel. I took mine up a notch with homemade pistachio cookies and marshmallow filling.
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Ingredients
For pistachio cookie base: 1½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour ½ cup (57 g) powdered sugar ½ tsp kosher salt 1½ sticks or ¾ cup (140 g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into chunks ½ cup (150 g) unsalted, shelled pistachios, plus more chopped for garnish 1 egg ½ tsp vanilla extract For marshmallow filling: 6 egg whites 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar ½ tsp cream of tartar 1½ tsp vanilla extract For chocolate shell: 1 package (12 ounce/340 g) semisweet chocolate chips 3 Tbsp coconut oil, butter, or canola oil (I like coconut oil best, but use what you have)Directions
To make cookies, place flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined.
Then add butter, pistachios, egg, and vanilla. Pulse until pistachios are very fine and dough comes together.
Form a log about 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter on wax paper, using the wax paper to help you mold it. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. If you are in a rush, freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
Cut log into ¼-inch (6 mm) slices, and bake on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet, 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Cool.
While cookies are baking, make your filling. Make sure the bowl and whisk are very clean and dry. Make a double boiler with a pot or heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water (not touching the water) and place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the top pot over simmering water over medium heat. Whisk for 5 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved. Do not let it boil. Mixture should be frothy, warm, and not gritty. If you have a candy thermometer, it should be about140ºF/60ºC.
Remove from heat, transfer to a large heat-resistant bowl (or use the bowl it’s already in) and beat with a stand or hand mixer with whisk attachment until thick, shiny, and stiff peaks form, 10 minutes or more. Then beat in vanilla.
To make krembos, put filling in a pastry bag with a wide tip or a plastic bag with wide tip. Pipe onto cookies in a swirl, about 2 inches (5 cm) high, and freeze for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile, to make chocolate coating, melt chocolate and oil over medium heat in a double boiler until chocolate is melted and shiny.
Then dip chilled krembos in the chocolate (or just get messy and pour it on top) and sprinkle with extra pistachios. The chocolate should harden right away; refrigerate if not eating right away.
