I made these for a random casual dinner party last night. A lovely bunch of people gathered at Iron Chef Jason’s house for a lovely dinner of pasta and Bondi Vet.

They were a big hit with everyone, which makes shelling 150 grams of pistachios well worth the effort. Next time I’ll just buy the ones pre-shelled!

Whilst the biscuit itself isn’t very sweet, it’s the icing sugar that brings the main sweetness to it. So make sure you smother it in icing sugar. The recipe says to “dust” with the icing sugar, but you actually need to rub the icing sugar all over the biscuit and then dust.

The lemon rind makes it a little bit refreshing too. You can easily eat more than one in a sitting! Perfect with a cup of my favorite, Earl Grey tea.

Pistachio & Lemon Bites
Donna Hay

300g butter, softened
3 tablespoon caster sugar
150g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
2 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon rind
icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 4 minutes or until light and creamy.

2. Add the pistachios and beat for 2 minutes. Fold through the flour and lemon rind and mix until will combined.

3. Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, flatten slightly and bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.

Makes 30.