Chewy pistachio cookies packed with natural pistachio flavor from real pistachios.
It took me a while to develop a pistachio cookie recipe I was happy with, but I finally nailed it. I've tried plenty that ended up either kind of flat or relying on artificial flavouring, and I wanted one that's genuinely nutty, buttery, and chewy - where you can actually taste the real pistachios.
This dough has both pistachio paste and chopped nuts, with white chocolate chips scattered in for little pockets of creamy sweetness. I love that it's forgiving enough to throw together without stressing, so even if you're new to baking, you'll end up with cookies that are soft, chewy, and just the right amount of crunch. Honestly, I can never stop at just one.
If you love these you might also like my Pistachio Shortbread Cookies.
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These easy-to-make pistachio cookies are the perfect nutty treat to whip up at this time of year.
With all their real pistachio flavor, this is a really good cookie recipe for the pistachio lover in your life - for a yummy snack, to serve at parties, or even to package up and give as gifts.
Pistachio Cookie Recipe Ingredients
These easy pistachio cookies require just a few simple ingredients - no instant pudding mix or artificial flavorings.
- Butter - You can use salted or unsalted butter for this cookie recipe, depending on your preference, either will work out great. There's no need for the butter to be room temperature as we'll be melting it anyway.
- Sugar - We'll use white sugar to make these nice chewy cookies, you could also use brown sugar but it may overpower the pistachio flavor, so I like to stick to white.
- Pistachio Paste - Also known as pistachio butter. This is an ingredient I use in all my pistachio recipes, such as my Pistachio Cake. It allows you to get a really intense pistachio flavor without having to use any artificial additives or flavorings. You can buy it readymade or if you have a food processor you can easily make it from scratch with this recipe.
- Egg - This cookie recipe uses the whole egg, use a large egg and free range if you can.
- Vanilla - You can use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
- Almond Extract (optional) - If you want to really boost the flavor, you can also add a dash of almond extract - but this is totally optional.
- Flour - All-purpose flour works best to create soft cookies that still have a good bite.
- White Chocolate Chips - I added white chocolate chips as I think they complement the pistachios nicely, but you can leave these out or even swap them for another mix-in.
- Pistachios - Of course, we want some lovely nutty pistachios in the cookies. We'll put chopped pistachios in the dough and also on top of the cookies. It's easier if you buy them shelled so you don't have to pick them all out individually.
As it uses real pistachio nuts rather than pudding mix, this pistachio cookie recipe won't come out bright green like some of the other recipes you may have seen, but if you are looking for that green color, like in my Pistachio Cake recipe, you can easily just add a drop of green gel food coloring to get the desired effect. Perfect for St. Patrick's day!
See recipe card for ingredient amounts and full directions.
What is Pistachio Paste?
Pistachio paste, or pistachio butter, is made from 100% pistachios. The pistachios are roasted and then put through a food processor, the processor will break the nuts up into ground pistachio, then pistachio flour, and then eventually the oils will release and it will start to turn into a thick paste.
I have a post all about how to make pistachio butter easily at home. But you can also buy it readymade. If you can't find it at your local market or grocery store, you can order it online. I use pistachio paste in many pistachio desserts, such as my Pistachio Cannoli and Pistachio Cupcakes.
Equipment
- Cookie sheet (or two cookie sheets if you'll be making your cookies in batches)
- Large mixing bowl
- Mixer (optional) - you can definitely make this recipe by hand with just a bowl and a wooden spoon, but you can also use an electric mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Cookie Scoop
- Cookie lifter - helps to easily lift the soft cookies from the baking sheet to the cooling rack
- Round cookie cutter - to scoot the edges of the cookies into a perfect round shape.
How to Make White Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
These perfect pistachio cookies come together quickly in just a few simple steps.
Chop Pistachios
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roughly chop the pistachios and set them aside.
Melt Butter
Melt the butter in the microwave and then mix together with the sugar and pistachio butter in a large bowl. You can do this by hand, or with an electric mixer on medium speed.
Add Eggs
Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. (If you want to add some almond extract to your cookie for an extra boost of flavor, add it now).
Dry Ingredients
Sift together the dry ingredients, including the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir together and then add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
Mix everything together until a soft dough forms.
Add Mix-ins
Add the white chocolate chips and roughly ⅔ of the chopped pistachios (this doesn't have to be exact).
Mix until they are evenly distributed.
Shape Cookies
Use a tablespoon or a small cookie scoop to scoop walnut-sized balls of cookie dough and roll them in your hands to make perfect balls.
Roll the top of the cookie dough balls in the remaining chopped pistachios and place them onto the lined baking sheet, evenly spaced out with enough room to spread.
Bake
Bake cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
If you want to, sprinkle with a little sea salt as soon as they come out of the oven.
Cookie Scoot
For perfectly round cookies, use a circular cookie cutter to gently 'scoot' the edges of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven until you have the perfect cookie shape.
Pistachio Cookie Recipe Variations
Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies - If white chocolate chip cookies aren't for you, you can definitely substitute milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips for a more chocolatey flavor.
Citrus Hint - For a little hit of citrus, add some lemon zest to your pistachio cookies at the same time as the pistachio butter.
Holiday Flair - You could add some dried fruit along with the chopped pistachios to make something like a pistachio cherry cookie, or even cranberry pistachio cookies - perfect for the holiday season!
Storing Pistachio Cookies
Store your delicious pistachio cookies in at room temperature in an airtight container lined with paper towels. They will be good like this for 5 days.
Happy baking!
More Pistachio Dessert Recipes
If you are a pistachio fiend like me, check out these pistachio recipes.
Recipe
Pistachio Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter 113g
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar 200g
- 1 large Egg
- 4 tablespoon Pistachio Paste 60g
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 teaspoon Almond Extract optional
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 187g
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup White Chocolate Chips 90g
- ¾ cup Pistachios 90g
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roughly chop the pistachios and set aside until needed.¾ cup (90 g) Pistachios
- Melt the butter in the microwave in 30-second increments.1 stick (113 g) Unsalted Butter
- Pour the melted butter into a bowl with the sugar and pistachio paste. Stir everything together until combined.1 cup (200 g) Granulated Sugar, 4 tablespoon Pistachio Paste
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir until combined. If you want to add the almond extract as well, add it now.1 large (1) Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
- Add dry ingredients, including flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix everything together until a soft dough forms.1 ½ cups (187 g) All-purpose Flour, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Baking Soda, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Salt
- Add white chocolate chips and about ⅔ of the chopped pistachios and stir into the dough until they are evenly distributed.½ cup (90 g) White Chocolate Chips
- Take walnut-sized scoops of dough and roll them with your hands to form balls.
- Press the top of each cookie dough ball into the remaining chopped pistachios, then place onto the baking sheet, with plenty of space in between each ball.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
Aislinn
Can I freeze the dough and then bake?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Aislinn,
Yes you can absolutely freeze the dough. You can either freeze the dough all together and then defrost and continue as normal, or you can pre-roll and freeze the cookie dough balls and bake them from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes to the bake time. The cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Jules
Patti
Can I use pistachio extract instead of almond?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Patti,
Yes absolutely! You can use any kind of extract you like in the same quantity. Pistachio extract will work wonderfully 🙂
Enjoy!
Jules
Grandma
More wonderful recipes! Pistachio is always a winner juliane.
Happy Honeymoon!