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Pistachio Cookies are soft and chewy with tons of pistachio flavor in every bite. These are completely from scratch – no pudding mixes needed – and no strange hard-to-find ingredients. With chocolate chips they’re gooey and rich with a nutty flavor – they’re my favorite new cookie recipe!
Pistachio is having a moment and that’s a good thing – the flavor was made for dessert! Whether I’m grabbing coffee and a croissant or ordering dessert at a restaurant, if pistachio is on the menu I’m ordering it.
You’re going to love these because they’re chewy cookies made with pistachio butter and chopped pistachios. They taste amazing, stay soft for days, and freeze great! Plus you can use milk chocolate chips or even dark chocolate chunks – soft cookies with rich melty chocolate – these are heaven.
How to make Pistachio Cookies
- You need shelled whole pistachios for this recipe. You can use roasted salted pistachios or raw pistachios, whichever you can find. It’s so much easier to buy them without the shells already because while there are tricks for removing the skins, it’s tedious and so much work.
- Turn the whole nuts into pistachio butter using a food processor. Pulse and allow the processor to run, scraping the sides occasionally, for several minutes. They will turn to ground pistachios, then dust, then get thick, then the mixture will smooth out, like a natural peanut butter.
- Then you’ll need unsalted butter that’s been softened, along with brown sugar and granulated sugar, an egg, baking soda, vanilla extract, and all-purpose flour, just like any other cookie recipe.
- I always add a little bit of almond extract to amplify the pistachio flavor. By itself the flavor is mild so the almond adds a little extra something.
- These cookies have no chill time and can be baked right away. Use a cookie scoop to make your desired size cookie.
- I love adding chocolate chips and chopped pistachios but you could also add white chocolate chips or really anything you want. Come up with other mix-ins to make new cookie recipes!
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.
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Dorothy’s Expert Cookie Tips
- Press a few extra chocolate chips or nuts on top of the cookie when they come out of the oven.
- Use a kitchen scale to accurately measure your ingredients.
- Cool cookies at least 10 minutes on cookie sheet before removing them to a wire rack.
- If you want them to be a more vibrant green, you can add a few drops of green food coloring.
Pistachio Cookies Recipe
The perfect Pistachio Cookies! This pistachio cookie recipe uses real pistachios to create pistachio butter and then makes cookies with chocolate chips – they're soft and chewy and SO GOOD!
Recipe Video
Prep Time 24 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups (185g) unsalted or lightly salted shelled pistachios, divided
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup (170g) chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Place ½ cup pistachios in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Remove from food processor to a small bowl and set aside.
- Place remaining 1 cup pistachios in the food processor. Run the processor until the pistachios become a smooth butter consistency. Every 30 seconds or so, stop the processor and scrape the bottom and sides. It will get dusty, then thick like paste, then eventually smooth like a natural nut butter.
- Transfer the pistachio butter to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add butter and mix until combined, then add both sugars and cream until fluffy.
- Mix in egg, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth, then add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.
- Add reserved chopped pistachios and chocolate chips.
- Scoop 2 tablespoon size balls of cookie dough onto prepared cookie sheets, 2-inches apart. Press lightly with the palm of your hand so they’re not super rounded.
- Bake until the tops are no longer glossy and the edges are light golden brown, about 10-14 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheets.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or freeze cooled cookies for several months.
Recipe Notes
- You can use raw pistachios or salted, whichever you can find easier. While it is possible to remove the shells and skins, it’s very tedious to use pistachios in their shells.
- You can use any kind of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks or even omit them for a pure pistachio cookie.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 119mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Step by Step Photos for this Pistachio Cookie Recipe
- Chop some of the pistachios in the food processor and set aside, then add the remaining nuts and process until butter forms.
- There are a few steps until it turns to butter: chopped, then dust, then a big chunk, then it’ll smooth out.
- Cream butter with both sugars and pistachio butter. Mix in large egg, vanilla, almond extract, salt, and baking soda. Mix in flour.
- Scoop cookie dough balls onto a prepared baking sheet covered with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Bake in preheated oven.
