Chocolate-Pistachio Trees

I first made these cute chocolate tree cookies a couple years ago. It was an especially cold week in December in Colorado and the furnace in my house had broken overnight. As I waited for the repair guy to show up, layered head to toe in wool items, I decided to start baking (the electricity was fine, so I could warm up next to my oven!) By the time the repair guy came, I think I had several dozens of cookies finished in my kitchen and I remember offering him one of these. He liked them, so I hope you do too!
INGREDIENTS:
Cookies:
1 cup butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, beaten
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts*

Decorating:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1 tablespoon shortening
1/2 cup ground pistachio nuts*

*To prepare the pistachio nuts for this recipe, place 2 cups whole (already shelled) pistachios into a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Remove 3/4 cup chopped nuts to be used in the dough. Continue pulsing remaining nuts until finely ground to use for garnish.

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar. Heat and stir over low heat until butter is melted. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool mixture for 15 minutes. Stir in egg, flour, and cocoa powder until mixture is combined. Stir in the 3/4 cup pistachio nuts. Divide dough in half. Cover or wrap in plastic wrap and chill about 30 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough, half at a time, to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a tree-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven about 9 minutes or until edges are firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In a small saucepan, combine chocolate pieces and shortening. Heat and stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Remove from heat. Dip one third of each cookie into chocolate mixutre. Dip edges of each cookie in ground pistachio nuts.

Store in an airtight container in a cool space.