I let the dough sit out until very soft and put it in a pastry bag with a large star tip and piped out the fingers. I dipped one end in the chocolate. They looked very nice.
I looked over all the reviews on this recipe and made these using a few of the ideas I read. One thing I did was add a bit more butter. Also I added two small packages of pistachio pudding mix and 1/2 cup chopped pistachios. The extra butter made them easier to roll and not at all sticky. The extra pudding mix added a lot of flavor and color. And the suggestion to use almond extract was an excellent choice however I used a bit more then suggested. I melted the chocolate in the microwave and used a wooden skewer to drizzle the chocolate. They were a hit. I made many delicious cookies this year however these were everyone's favorite by far
I have loved these since I was a little girl they're a holiday staple at my mom's! She makes the shape by putting them in an tipless pastry/icing bag and squeezing them out.
I was surprised also that a few people rated these poorly--I just made 5 different cookies from the Allrecipes Best Cookies book and these were a stand-out favorite at our party. The dough is VERY sticky and difficult to work with even when cooled as directed--I found that simply wetting my hands with water helped me to achieve a slick little ball easily--this worked out better than fingers because these are so cakey and delicate that they have the potential to break. I also used more than the recommended chocolate--excellent. These also have a hint of a salty flavor which perfects the pistachio flavor. We will put these on our Christmas cookie platter every year from now on!
I could not mold this cookie so I let the dough stand at room temperature. When it was soft enough I used a cookie press (leaf shaped disc). Once the cookies were cooled I sandwiched melted chocolate between two cookies. These are one my husband's ALL TIME FAVORITES!
Everyone thought they were store bought! Lovely delicate flavour and they're green! I refrigerated for several days BEFORE baking and still came out great. They stay chewy and fresh for a long time after too. The only problem was SHAPING them. I had never made "fingers" before and through yummy trial and error I figured out you must roll them like worms cut and bake. Thanks!
I'm a little surprised at the either/or reviews for this cookie. I've always found it a great recipe for the Christmas holidays tasty and easy to make. It's always pretty on the tray -- I chill the dough to make the fingers easier to make and have used both white and dark chocolate.
Found this recipe while searching for recipes which included pistachio pudding mix in the ingredients. They sounded good and I decided to make them as part of my Christmas cookie baking this year. They were a hit! My husband and mother loved them. I used a few suggestions from others and used almond extract instead of vanilla doubled the amount of pudding mix added green food coloring gel and some crushed unsalted roasted pistachios to the dough. I used a cookie press to form the fingers. After baking and cooling the "fingers" I drizzled melted dark chocolate over them. then sprinkled and lightly pressed crushed pistachios onto the warm chocolate drizzle. The were so pretty and tasty and made an abundance of cookies for giving and enjoying.
I printed the recipe out adding the reviews I wanted and also printed it out to make 1/2 the amount. As I was mixing the ingredients for the 1/2 recipe I realized the reviews suggesting adding 2 pkgs. of pistachio pudding was for the full recipe too late I had already mixed them in. Added extra butter as suggested and they came out great. They were all gone in 5 minutes after putting the tray out. Used parchment paper on the cookie sheet and they did not stick at all. Will be making these again real soon.
I really didn't like these too well. I forgot by the time I got around to making the recipe that others had recommended using an additional box of pudding to enhance the flavor; I followed the recipe as written. But in addition to the lack of flavor (except for the chocolate drizzle which fortunately overpowered the taste of the cookie) I didn't really care for the texture. I think the pudding makes them too dense because they're a little too moist.
