Pistachio Butter Cookies

Back at Christmas, my family surprised me with a jar of pistachio butter. As far as nut butters go, this pistachio butter was the sweetest by far -- almost too sweet to eat on its own. I figured I'd use it as an ingredient rather than a spread, so the obvious choice was Pistachio Butter Cookies. They are so good I’ll be buying another jar!

Texture and Flavor

The texture of these cookies is off the charts! They're a little crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, but what's unusual is that each little bite has kind of a crackliness or dissolving feeling. It's hard to explain, but if you've ever had a cookie made with lard, it's almost that kind of texture without the pork flavor. The flavor of these cookies is good too, but not overwhelmingly nutty. To get more pistachio flavor you'd need to add pistachio extract because these mostly taste like vanilla, butter and chunks, which in this case were white chocolate, milk and dark chocolate.

CAMPO D'ORO Pistachio Butter

For these cookies, I used CAMPO D'ORO pistachio butter. Compared to other brands, it leans on the sweeter side with more sugar and slightly less pistachio. That balance is what gives desserts an instant lift, and the rich, candy-like sweetness adds a little Sicilian flair. My pistachio butter (according to Santa Clause) came from a local Italian store, but it's also available online. If you have a dad that bakes or cooks, a jar of this would be an awesome Father's Day gift. Unless your father has a nut allergy.

Pistachio Butter Cookies Add-Ins

While I didn't have any actual pistachio nuts, I had white chocolate, dark chocolate, and all kinds of other nuts including macadamias. I found that the dough for these cookies was amenable to just about any add-in I felt like using. The add-ins in the first cookie are just chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. In the cookie below, I used white chocolate. Cherries would have been amazing, but I didn't have any.

• Chocolate Pistachio Thins
• Small Batch Pistachio Pudding Dessert
• Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars
• Pistachio Coconut Corn Flake Cookies
• Pistachio Pudding Mix Scones

Recipe

Pistachio Butter Cookies With White Chocolate or Dark

Anna

This is a pretty versatile dough, so use your favorite type of chocolate and mix or match the nuts. The pistachio flavor isn't very pronounced, but the soft and oily pistachio butter gives the cookies an amazing texture.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Cooling Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

 

• ½ cup unsalted or salted butter, softened (114 grams
• ½ cup pistachio butter (smooth or slightly textured) (130 grams)
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed (150 grams)
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams)
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt (increase to ¾ if using unsalted butter)
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (220 grams)
• 1 ¼ cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks of white or dark chocolate (200 grams)
• Optional: chopped pistachios or flaky salt for topping

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or hold off if you plan on chilling the dough.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the butter, pistachio butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (2–3 minutes).
• Add the egg, the yolk, and vanilla and beat on high for another minute.
• Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and beat until evenly blended scraping the bowl often.
• Add the flour and stir by hand or use low speed of mixer to stir until combined.
• Fold in chocolate and any other add-ins (nuts, cherries?) you'd like.
• With a medium size cookie scoop, scoop dough into balls and put them on a dinner plate. Alternatively, you may use a large scoop. Cover with plastic and chill overnight until ready to bake. OR bake right away. The cookie in the last photo was baked with dough that had not been chilled. The flavor improves after a good chill, but the cookies are still very pretty when baked right away.
• Bake for 12–14 minutes, until edges are golden and centers still look a bit soft. I baked the cookies in the photos in a Breville toaster oven using the "Cookies" setting. I think they took about 14 minutes. The ones that were baked from room temperature dough were the prettiest, but the ones that had been chilled overnight or longer had the most flavor.
• Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack. Sprinkle with flaky salt if desired.

Keyword Pistachio Butter

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