Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies

NYE, 2007--A friend made these tremendous cookies for her year-birthing soiree. I ate several which I'm sure worsened the following day's hangover, as I was not yet gluten-free. Another attendee almost cried when he tasted them, saying that they reminded him of his Persian grandmother's cookies. Yes, they were that delicious.

I have been meaning to make a gluten-free version of these for so long, and New Years Day after the end of a pretty shitty year seemed like an appropriate occasion.

If you are veg-leaning, the cookbook from which this recipe originates is an excellent resource. Most of the gluten-free recipes are clearly labeled, and many of the unfriendly recipes are easy to convert. Not to mention DELICIOUS.

Pistachio-Rose Water Cookies
adapted from Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Note: I used this combo because I didn't have any canola oil on hand as originally called for in the recipe. I'm sure any mild flavored oil would work well.
3 Tbsp almond milk (subbing for rice milk)
1 Tbsp rose water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
1/4 cup arrowroot starch (subbing for cornstarch, as I had none on hand)
3/4 cup sweet brown rice flour
1/2 light buckwheat flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
3 Tbsp almond butter
3 Tbsp hot water
Note: The original recipe does not call for the two above ingredients. Without the gluten from the all-purpose flour, the dough was not sticking together as it should. I improvised this fix, and it worked remarkably well.
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

In a standing mixer (or mixing bowl with whisk if you do not have a standing mixer--don't worry, you can't overwork gluten-free dough), combine the sugar, oils, almond milk, rose water, vanilla, lime juice, and zest on the lowest setting. Once well combined, add the arrowroot starch and mix until dissolved.

Add the flours, baking powder, salt, and cardamom, and mix well. At this point, the dough will be rather crumbly and not very doughlike. Add the almond butter and water in tandem, one Tbsp of each at a time, until the dough begins to come together. Wrap the dough in parchment paper and store in the refrigerator for at least an hour, up to 24 hours in advance of baking.

Once you're ready to bake, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

Pinch off approximately 2 tsp-sized balls of dough, dip them in the pistachios, and put them on the cookie sheet nut side up.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool. Enjoy.