I love pistachios. In fact, I love them so much that I will actually shell my own in order to enjoy them… many foods are not worth manual labor, but pistachios are. Thankfully, we can buy shelled pistachios, but they are fabulous nevertheless and I always felt like these wonderfully salty little snacks were meant to be folded into a chewy cookie dough….
Well this week I did it. I added some chopped pistachios and a bunch of white chocolate chips to my favorite cookie dough and once they were finished, the only thing that I was disappointed in was the fact that I have not done this sooner.
These cookies are absolutely fabulous! The unique sweetness of white chocolate is perfectly balanced with the salty crunch of the pistachios and this cookie dough recipe gives you chewy cookies with lightly crisp edges. You are going to love everything about them!
Let’s get started…
Begin by creaming a cup of softened butter with 3/4 cup of brown sugar and a cup of granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer until everything is nice and creamy.
Next, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 large eggs and mix until fully incorporated.
Now for the dry ingredients. This recipe calls for 375 grams of all purpose flour, which is just about 3 cups and although you can use a measuring cup to gather your flour, I do suggest weighing the flour in order to make this cookie dough exactly like mine.
Scooping flour with a measuring cup will give you varying amounts each time depending on how compacted the flour is in your storage bin and in the measuring cup. If you add too little flour, cookies will spread way out and be too thin, but if you add too much flour, they can be tough and dense, so this is why I suggest weighing the flour as a little bit of insurance that your cookies will turn out fabulous.
Along with 375 grams of all purpose flour, add a teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and use a silicone spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Just mix until you no longer see dry flour and then add about a cup of white chocolate chips or chunks and a cup of chopped pistachios…
Fold the white chocolate and pistachios in until they are evenly distributed.
This cookie dough needs to be chilled before baking, so these cookies are great to make up, form into portions and freeze until you find yourself needing freshly baking cookies. They can be either chilled for a few hours in the refrigerator or frozen for about 30 minutes if you want to bake them up sooner than later.
I like to spray a cookie dough scoop with non-stick spray and form heaping tablespoon sized balls of dough. Place the portions onto a baking sheet and once all of the dough is formed, chill until firm.
These cookies can go directly from the refrigerator or freezer into the oven, so when you are ready to bake them up, simply transfer the portions onto a parchment lined or non-stick baking sheet and bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown.
The cookies will be a little puffy when they first come out of the oven, so I like to bang the baking sheet on my counter top once or twice to make them settle a bit. This is optional, but knocking some of the air down in them will help the cookies to be just a little more chewy, which I love.
Once your cookies are baked, transfer the baking sheet onto a cooling rack or heat proof surface for about 5 minutes to give them time to set up a bit and then transfer the cookies directly onto a cooling rack.
Note: I love sprinkling just a little extra finely chopped white chocolate and pistachios over each cookies while they are still hot to dress them up a bit. I love the white and green together!
These cookies are beautiful, chewy, sweet and salty, so if you love pistachios then give them a try! Make the full batch of dough, bake some up today and then store the rest in the freezer for an emergency cookie craving. Planning ahead is never a bad idea….
Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup of butter, softened
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 375 grams of all purpose flour (about 3 cups spooned and leveled)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of dark chocolate chips of chunks
- 1 cup of pistachios, chopped
Instructions
- Using an electric hand mixer, beat 1 cup of room temperature butter with 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of granulated sugar in a large bowl until creamy
- Add 2 large eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated
- Add 375 grams (3 cups) of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the bowl and mix until just combined
- Fold 1 cup of dark chocolate chips and 1 cup of chopped pistachios into the dough until evenly distributed
- Using a greased cookie dough scoop, drop 2 tablespoons of dough onto a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes
- When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Place the chilled portions of cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet at least 2 inches apart
- Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown
- Transfer the baking sheet onto a cooling rack and allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring directly onto the cooling rack
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months
