Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

These EPIC crisp and chewy Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with brown butter for extra nuttiness. Thick, nutty, and so indulgent.

If you’re looking for a cookie recipe that encompasses both pistachios and chocolate, then you’re most certainly in the right place. These gloriously buttery, nutty, decadent cookies will be right up your street. I’ve included all my KEY TIPS for making the BEST cookies ever.

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m quite obsessed with all things pistachio, as some of you may have gathered from the abundance of pistachio recipes here. But I have to say, these are without a doubt the best cookies I have ever made.

These Pistachio and Chocolate Chip Cookies start with a base of brown butter (extra nuttiness!), sugar, and finely ground pistachios. The ground pistachios add another layer of flavour, moisture, and an even chewier texture.

I’ve also thrown in heaps of chopped pistachios and dark chocolate. You can use any chocolate you like for these, so if you’d prefer to go for milk or white chocolate. Feel free to do just that.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is essentially just regular butter that’s been ‘simmered’ until the milk solids separate and brown. As the butter gets heated, the water within it will begin to evaporate.

The milk solids will also start to separate out of the melted butter. The small solid specks then get toasted in the heat and turn a deep brown colour. This creates a deep, nutty, caramelised flavour.

This recipe is part of my ‘All Things Pistachio‘ series!

This entire series will be full of recipes that all have PISTACHIO. They’re perfect for fellow pistachio lovers.

Any long term readers here will already know I have a deep love for pistachio and plenty of existing pistachio recipes!

This series will be regularly updated with more and more pistachio recipes. So hopefully there’ll be something nutty for everyone.

You can find the rest of the recipes here.

Why you should chill your cookie dough

1) This creates less spreading of the cookies

I find that cookies with a high ratio of fat work best after being chilled. This allows the fat to solidify and thus during the baking process, the fat will melt more slowly. As the fat melts more slowly, this creates less spread of the cookies.

2) Chilling cookie dough improves the flavour

The flavours in the cookie dough have time to mingle and concentrate whilst being chilled. This creates a more intense and deeper flavour. The flour also has time to hydrate which firms the dough and reduces the cookies from over-spreading.

The enzymes in the flour also break it down which allows more more browning and a sweeter flavour.

3) Chilling cookie dough improves texture

This happens due to the combination of the fat solidifying and the enzyme activity. The chilling creates thicker cookies that have a crisp and chewy texture. Whilst non-chilled cookies tend to be softer and often more oily (more so in eggless cookie recipes like this one due to the lack of an emulsifier).

Let’s talk about some of the main ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Butter – I like to use unsalted butter as that allows me to be able to control the salt. If you use salted, you’ll want to hold back on the additional salt slightly
• Sugars – a combination of white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar are key
• Plain flour – also known as all purpose flour
• Cornflour – this is sold as cornflour in the UK and corn starch in the US
• Pistachios – I’m using unsalted roasted pistachios here
• Chocolate – I’m using a 70% bar of dark chocolate, I like to use 70-74% in my cookies. Feel free to use any type of chocolate you like but I highly recommend purchasing a bar and chopping it up rather than using pre-packaged chocolate chips
• Almond extract – a little bit really highlights the nuttiness and ramps up the pistachio flavour

The KEY tips for making these Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Chill the dough – this is essential for the fat to firm up, flavour development, and improved texture!
• Don’t overwork the dough – this is why we’re mixing in the chocolate chunks and pistachios whilst the flour hasn’t been fully incorporated. This will reduce overworking which can develop the gluten and create tougher cookies

How to make these Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to make brown butter

1+2) Start by melting the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, crank the heat up to medium-high and stir with a spatula throughout to prevent the milk solids from sticking and burning

The butter will sizzle and froth as the water evaporates, and the milk solids will gradually separate

3) Keep cooking the butter until those solids turn a deep brown colour

4) Then pour into a large mixing bowl, make sure to get all of those toasted milk solids, that’s where the nuttiness lies! Set aside to cool for around 10 minutes

How to make Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

1+2) Start by placing the pistachios and white sugar into a blender jug and blend into a fine powder. Don’t overdo it here as we don’t want this to turn into pistachio butter

3) Mix the flour, cornflour (cornflour for UK readers and corn starch for US readers), salt, baking powder, and baking soda together. Only the baking powder and baking soda need sifting

4) Add the pistachio sugar, brown sugar, and extracts to the brown butter

5+6) Mix everything together well with a spatula. You may need to use the back of the spatula or a spoon to press out any lumps of pistachio powder. Don’t use a whisk as we’re not trying to incorporate air

7) Pour in the milk and continue to mix with the spatula until the mixture starts to thicken up slightly – this will literally take minutes

8) Next, add in the dry ingredients

9+10) Continue to mix the dry ingredients together until almost fully combined

11) Add in all of the chopped pistachios and chocolate of choice. I love using dark chocolate here

12) Continue to mix until the pistachio and chocolate chunks are well distributed and no dry flour remains

13) Scoop out portions of the pistachio chocolate chip cookie dough using an ice cream scooper. Place them in a container or tray lined with baking paper

14) Transfer the cookie dough into the fridge to chill

15+16) After chilling, bake the cookies in a preheated oven (details included in the recipe below) until golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool

Frequently asked questions

Can these cookies be made vegan?

They can be made vegan but the method and recipe does change slightly. Most vegan butters do not brown, so you’re better off using melted vegan butter.

Use the same quantity of vegan butter, but we have to account for the water evaporation in brown butter. So you’ll need to reduce the amount of milk in the recipe by 1tbsp (~15g). I’d also recommend using soy milk over any other plant based milk as it lends the best results.

How long will these Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies keep? And what’s the best way to store them?

I’ve kept the dough balls in the fridge for up to 7 days and it’s been absolutely fine and baked perfectly. They actually taste even better after 3-4 days of refrigeration. The cookies will keep in an air tight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or refrigerated for 7-10 days.

If you enjoyed this recipe

Please do let me know! Leave a review and a rating below, I’d love to know how you got on.

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Until then, happy baking!