December 21, 2020, 12:33 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Christmas time is cookie time. Enjoying sweets doesn’t have to mean weeks of high-calorie and high-fat indulgence. Without refined sugar, butter, and wheat flour, treats can taste just as good if you choose the right recipe. Take this one, for example: Matcha Pistachio Diamonds. Plus, they’re packed with healthy ingredients.
Matcha tea, originating from Japan, not only has a unique flavor that works well in desserts and sweet snacks but also contains a lot of antioxidants. These are important for protecting our cells from free radicals. That’s reason enough to include matcha in our FITfuttern recipe of the week, along with another tried-and-true superfood: pistachios. They match in color, are also antioxidant powerhouses, and are full of valuable polyunsaturated fatty acids known to help prevent cardiovascular diseases. They also provide fiber and even vitamin D. Our Matcha Pistachio Diamonds are the perfect healthy cookies for the holiday season–and of course, for before and after.
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For 50 Matcha Pistachio Cookies, You Will Need
For the dough:
- 60 g shelled pistachios
- 200 g spelt flour, type 1050
- 2 tsp matcha tea powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 120 g virgin coconut oil
- 100 ml maple syrup
- lemon zest
For the glaze:
- 100 g white chocolate
- 1/2 tsp matcha tea powder
- 40 g chopped pistachios
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Toast the pistachios in a pan until they become fragrant. Remove from the pan, process into flour in a food processor, and then mix with the remaining ingredients into a smooth dough–first with a dough hook, then by hand. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for two hours.
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Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper, roll it out to about half a centimeter thick into a rectangle, trim the edges straight, and then cut into strips about four centimeters wide. Rotate the parchment paper 90 degrees and cut into wide strips again. Remove the diamonds from the parchment paper and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Reform the dough scraps into a ball, roll out, and cut into diamonds until all the dough is used. Bake the dough for 10 to 12 minutes until the cookies are lightly browned at the edges. Let cool completely.
For the glaze, melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Stir in the matcha tea powder until smooth and let cool slightly. Then brush onto the cookies with a pastry brush and sprinkle the remaining pistachios on top. Chill until the chocolate has set–the healthy cookies are ready!
Nutritional Values per Cookie
About 50 calories. The best part: Eating pistachios may even help with weight loss. Researchers at the University of California found that a 40-gram portion of these power nuts daily can effectively contribute to a lower body mass index. More information on the study can be found here. But in this case, trying is definitely better than studying!