Crisp and chewy, these Dark Chocolate Chunk Pistachio cookies are packed with pistachio butter, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, browned butter and topped with flecks of sea salt. Basically the best cookies ever!
So a few weeks ago I had this crazy idea. Grind pistachios down and make pistachio butter! It was absolutely delicious, but obviously something I probably wouldn’t do on a regular basis.
However, I thought it would be amazing in cookies. Guys, I was right. These dark chocolate chunk pistachio cookies are amazing. I could not stop eating them!!
My husband asked me to make some cookies for a friend from church that helped him translate for clients at work. He said she loved pistachios, we do too (->just check out this Pistachio Ice Cream recipe<-), so I got really excited! I knew I wanted to do something without pudding in it and that wasn’t shortbread. I thought about making snowball cookies (still am) but ultimately decided that the “chocolate chip cookie” route was the way to go.
How to Make Dark Chocolate Chunk Pistachio Cookies
These cookies though, they’re definitely not your mom’s classic chocolate chip cookie. In fact, they don’t even have chocolate chips in them. Here’s what they do have: pistachio butter, browned butter, vanilla bean paste, chopped pistachios, chopped dark chocolate and big ole flecks of sea salt on top. They’re kind of dreamy.
I made my own pistachio butter by tossing some roasted/salted pistachios into my food processor (thanks mom for the new toy!) and pulsing them along with a bit of melted coconut oil to get a nice creamy texture. It only took a few minutes- so easy!
The browned butter was pretty easy too, just whisk and watch it.
The vanilla bean paste is something I LOVE and use all of the time, but vanilla extract works too.
I opted for roasted/salted pistachios but if you have time, you can roast your own.
And for the chocolate I decided chunks were the way to go. Now I’ve made this recipe twice and the first time I used pre-chopped chunks. Big mistake. You really want to buy a bar and chop it yourself. Here’s why: when you chop your own you get lots of flecks, you know those ones that kind of stick to your cutting board. Scrape those flecks into your batter, your cookies will be a million times better!
When you’ve got your dough all mixed up you can either chill it for extra thick, chewy cookies, or bake it right away. It’s totally up to you, either way they’ll turn out great!
Scoop the dough into balls, place on a lined baking sheet and let them bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Don’t leave them any longer or you’ll end up with dry cookies.
Remove them from the oven, sprinkle them with chunky sea salt (I like Maldon… it’s available at most grocery stores now) and enjoy immediately!
These dark chocolate chunk pistachio cookies were a huge hit! They’ll definitely be a part of our holiday baking each year. I mean, how could you not love them with all of that goodness crammed into one cookie?! Enjoy & happy baking!
More Pistachio Recipes
- Pistachio Pie
- Pistachio Pound Cake
- White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
- The Best Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream
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!!