Elevate your cookie game with these Chocolate Pistachio Cookies. They’re soft, chewy and loaded with gooey chocolate and crunchy pistachios.
These Chocolate Pistachio Cookies are the perfect combination of rich, fudgy chocolate and crunchy roasted pistachios. The browned butter adds deep caramel-like notes that pair beautifully with melty chocolate chips and pistachios, creating a cookie that’s soft and chewy in the center with perfectly crisp edges.
For more flavor filled cookies you have to check out my Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies, and Kitchen Sink Cookies.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
Pistachio Butter – Pistachio butter adds richness and a deep nutty flavor. You can use store-bought or homemade—just make sure it’s smooth and well-blended before adding to the dough.
Brown Sugar – Go for light brown sugar unless you prefer a deeper molasses flavor from dark brown sugar. It makes the cookies soft and chewy with rich undertones.
Vanilla Bean Paste or Extract – Vanilla bean paste gives a stronger vanilla flavor and those little specks that look so pretty in baked goods. Regular vanilla extract works fine if that’s what you have.
For a full list of ingredients and amounts, see the recipe card below.
How to Make Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line the baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats; set aside.
Step 2: Place 1 stick of butter in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Heat the butter until it melts, then bubbles, and eventually begins to smell nutty. Whisk and swirl every few seconds until you start to see browned bits (or flecks) at the bottom; remove immediately.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the remaining butter and pour the hot browned butter over top. Add the pistachio butter and sugars; beat for 2–3 minutes until light and smooth. With the mixing speed on low, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the vanilla.
Step 4: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Turn the mixing speed to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients. Beat until just combined or until a soft dough forms. Fold in the pistachios and chocolate chunks with a spatula. Now you can either bake the dough straight away, chill for 3 hours and bake, store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze it.
Step 5: To bake the cookies, use a standard-size cookie scoop (approximately 1.5 tbsp.) to form balls of dough. Place the cookie dough balls onto the prepared sheets, leaving at least 2 inches in between.
Step 6: Place in the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the oven when the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3–4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
Scrape Down the Bowl for Even Mixing – Pause to scrape the sides of the bowl and the bottom during mixing. This helps create a uniform dough and prevents streaks of unmixed ingredients like pistachio butter.
Brown the Butter Properly – Keep a close eye when browning butter—it goes from golden to burnt fast. Look for golden specks and a nutty smell before pulling it off the heat.
FAQs
Yes. While pistachio butter adds a deep, earthy flavor and creamy texture that sets these cookies apart, you can use regular unsalted butter if needed. The texture will still be great, but you’ll lose some of that nutty richness.
Chilling isn’t required, but it does help if you want thicker, chewier cookies. A 3-hour chill helps the dough firm up, prevents spreading, and allows the flavors to develop even more.
Storage Information
These Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies will stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for 4–5 days. To keep them longer, STORE the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
If you’re working ahead, you can FREEZE the dough balls instead—freeze on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) for 1–2 extra minutes. To REHEAT baked cookies, warm them in the microwave for about 10–15 seconds for that soft, melty texture.
Chocolate Pistachio Cookies Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup pistachio butter*
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar - packed
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste - OR extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup pistachios - roasted, chopped
- 2 cup chocolate - chopped (I used a mix of semisweet and bittersweet)
- sea salt - optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Line the baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats; set aside.
- Place 1 stick of butter in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Heat the butter until it melts, then bubbles, and eventually begins to smell nutty. Whisk and swirl every few seconds until you start to see browned bits (or flecks) at the bottom; remove immediately.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the remaining butter and pour the hot browned butter over top. Add the pistachio butter and sugars; beat for 2–3 minutes until light and smooth. With the mixing speed on low, add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the vanilla.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Turn the mixing speed to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients. Beat until just combined or until a soft dough forms. Fold in the pistachios and chocolate chunks with a spatula. Now you can either bake the dough straight away, chill for 3 hours and bake, store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or freeze it.
- To bake the cookies, use a standard-size cookie scoop (approximately 1.5 tbsp.) to form balls of dough. Place the cookie dough balls onto the prepared sheets, leaving at least 2 inches in between.
- Place in the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes. Remove from the oven when the cookies are golden brown around the edges. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 3–4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
pls clarify butter 3/4 cups and then a stick of melted butter to add altogether, so total of butter 1 stick melted and 3/4 cup also
Hi Christine, it is just a total of 3/4 cup butter.
Here’s the clarification:
The total amount of butter is 3/4 cup, which equals 1 ½ sticks of butter.
The recipe has you brown 1 stick (½ cup) of that butter in a saucepan.
The remaining ¼ cup (½ stick) is added to the mixing bowl.
Then you pour the hot browned butter over the remaining butter in the bowl and proceed with the recipe.
Summary: You use a total of 3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter — it’s just split between browning and mixing.
I’ve tried a bunch of pistachio cookie recipes and this one’s easily the best. You’ve got to try it! My family can’t get enough. They’re soft in the middle and perfectly chewy on the edges.
These cookies got rave reviews from family, I didn’t do the nut butter part, instead I browned all the butter and it worked out amazing.
Is there any chance of having the recipe in metric system please? Thanks
Here is a helpful site that lets you enter a recipe and converts it for you: https://convertrecipe.com/.
I made these cookies for a friends birthday & he absolutely raved about how delicious they were. Thank you for the easy to follow recipe along with photographs!!