Pistachio Cookies with Pistachio Butter

Alright ladies and gents, ready for another pistachio recipe? Get your homemade pistachio butter ready, cuz today we’re making these super easy and extremely tasty pistachio butter cookies! The batter calls for both pistachio butter and ground pistachios to make sure you’ll get double the flavor. They bake up to a pretty green color, and they look just beautiful with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Every time I make something with pistachio, I have to sneak in a little cardamom and orange – just like these pistachio cupcakes. Cardamom itself has citrusy character so it goes really well with orange zest. The flavor of these pistachio and cardamom cookies are just so lovely — no words can truly describe them.

Why you’ll love these special cookies

If you’re not convinced yet to make these cookies, let me tell you again why you’ve got to make them today!

• So much pistachios! These pistachio butter cookies are not simply butter cookies with ground pistachio folded into the batter. They are actually made with real pistachio butter the same way you would make peanut butter cookies.
• Their beautiful color is natural – no pudding mix or food coloring here, the green color you see in these photos is all from the pistachio butter and ground pistachios. The greener your pistachio and pistachio butter, the greener these cookies will turn out.
• Unique gourmet flavor – the combination of orange, cardamom and pistachio makes these extremely special and unique. Everyone will love them!

Helpful tools

A stand mixer makes it easy to combine all of the ingredients in this cookie recipe but an electric hand mixer will work just as well.

I also like to have a kitchen scale on hand for exact measurements as well as when dividing up the dough. One batch should make about 18 dough balls, approximately 1 ¼ oz each.

Ingredients and substitutions

As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:

1. Unsalted butter – gives you control over how much salt goes into the recipe but in a pinch you can use salted butter, just omit the salt called for separately in this cookie dough.

2. Pistachio butter – this is the secret ingredient that gives these cookies an earthy, nutty, satisfying flavor. I use my homemade pistachio butter with honey but you can use either homemade or store bought.

3. Light brown sugar – for a deep, rich sweetness and to keep the cookie soft and chewy. Dark brown sugar will work too and in a pinch you can use granulated sugar if brown sugar is not available. One reader also used coconut light brown sugar.

4. Orange zest – adds a light citrusy flavor to your pistachio cardamom cookies. Tangerine or clementine zest will work too.

5. Egg – binds the ingredients together to give you the perfect dough.

6. Pure vanilla extract – while not the main flavor in this cookie dough, it adds complexity and enhances the other flavors and ingredients.

7. Flour – all-purpose flour is best for this recipe.

8. Salt – very similar to vanilla, salt enhances flavors and adds complexity to baked goods.

9. Baking powder – gives the cookies a soft, delightful texture.

10. Baking soda – promotes browning and helps the cookies to spread out to the right size.

11. Cardamom – the secret spice for a unique warm and spicy note that pairs well with the orange zest and is just wonderful with pistachios. However, note that cardamom can be a very strong flavor especially if you’re using freshly ground cardamom, reduce the amount to just half or use as much or as little as you prefer.

12. Ground pistachio – adds texture and even more delicious pistachio flavor. You can use raw, roasted unsalted, whole or slivered pistachios. I use my food processor to grind whole pistachios for this but a really sharp knife will do the job just as well. You can choose to grind it more finely or chop it a bit more roughly to add more texture to your pistachio cookies.

How to Make Pistachio Cookies

The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Combine the ingredients

1. First, we’ll melt the butter and let it cool down before combining it with our pistachio butter along with brown sugar and orange zest.
2. Second, we’ll add egg and vanilla and beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy.
3. Then, we’ll sift together our dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda and cardamom – and stir in the salt and ground or chopped pistachios.
4. Finally, combine the dry ingredient mixture with the wet ingredient mixture to make our beautiful pistachio cookie dough.

Chill the dough

For the best results, I recommend refrigerating your dough for 30 minutes before you move on to dividing and rolling it. This will allow the dough to hydrate and let the flavor meld together. Just don’t forget about it because if you chill it for too long, the dough might harden too much and make it difficult to divide and roll.

Shape the dough

This cookie dough is very easy to handle, especially after chilling. You should be able to divide and roll it into balls without any issue. You should be able to get 18 dough balls, each about 1 ¼ oz.

An advantage of rolling the dough into ball is that you’ll end up with perfectly round and pretty cookies when baked!

Bake your cookies!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once ready, pop your baking tray into the oven for 11 minutes on the middle rack. No need to flatten the dough for these pistachio cardamom cookies — just let them spread on their own during baking.

When they’re finished, remove them from the oven and place the tray onto a wire rack. You’ll want to let the orange pistachio cookies cool for 5 minutes on the tray before moving them directly to the wire rack to continue cooling.

Tip: This step is optional, but you can sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar on top of the cookies to add subtle sweetness and enhance their appearance even more.

More baker’s tips

• When to divide the dough – You can divide the dough immediately after mixing and then chill if you are not planning to bake them within half an hour, or if you are making them ahead. The unbaked dough balls will last in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
• Variations – Try this recipe as a base using other nuts, making your own nut butter for gourmet variations.

Storage

These cardamom pistachio cookies will last for 3 to 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container. A trick that I use to keep cookies fresh is storing them with a slice of sandwich bread. You can use a piece of parchment paper to separate the bread from the cookies or place the bread off to the side of the container so that they don’t touch.

For longer storage, you can freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Or you can freeze the dough after rolling it into balls. If you are freezing the dough, flash freeze the dough balls first on a baking sheet with enough space between them so they don’t stick together. Once frozen solid, you can toss all of them into a freezer bag.

FAQs

More pistachio recipes

• Pear Frangipane Tart (Pistachio)
• White Chocolate Pistachio Truffles
• Pistachio Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

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