Pistachios, candied cherries, and mini chocolate chips baked in a creamy rum cookie, then dipped in dark chocolate
You might already be familiar with the pistachio, cherry, and chocolate gelato layered “spumoni” dessert, which is mixed with with rum, fruits, and nuts. Or perhaps you’ve scooped these flavors from a carton of spumoni ice cream?
Well, we are here to bring you all those delicious flavors, but in a cookie that is wonderfully soft, chewy, crunchy, and creamy. The creamy pudding base is prepared in a saucepan, allowed to cool, mixed with goodies, and then baked. The final step is a dip in dark chocolate.
These cookies fuse Italian “spumoni” and Czech “marokánky” desserts together into one unique Christmas treat! Delizioso!
Spumoni Cookies
Pistachios, candied cherries, and mini chocolate chips baked in a creamy rum cookie, then dipped in dark chocolate
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon rum extract
- ⅔ cup pistachios (chopped)
- ¼ cup candied red cherries (chopped)
- ¼ cup candied green cherries (chopped)
- ⅛ cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 ½ ounces dark chocolate melting wafers (e.g., Ghirardelli melting wafers)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large saucepan, mix the powdered sugar and flour.
- Whisk in the heavy whipping cream.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens and bubbles.
- Reduce the heat to low and continuously stir 2 additional minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and rum extracts, followed by the pistachio and candied cherry pieces.
- Allow the mixture to cool completely, then mix in the mini chocolate chips.
- Use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop to ball and drop the dough onto a cookie tray lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges begin to golden, then remove the trays from the oven to cool.
- Allow the cookies to remain on the trays for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Using a double boiler technique, melt the chocolate wafers. Stir frequently.
- Use a small spoon to spread a layer of the melted chocolate onto the bottom of each cookie. Set the cookies upside-down while the chocolate completely cools.
Tips & Tricks
- Candied cherries are easiest to find at your grocery around Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s the same colorful, sugar soaked cherries used in fruitcakes. We recommend using both green and red candied cherries for full Christmas color effect. The cherries can usually be found in smaller quantities at other times of the year in the baking / spice aisle by the sprinkles and frostings.
