This Pistachio White Chocolate Cookie makes delicious use of pistachios, pairing them with white chocolate (or dark, should you so prefer).
The recipe is adapted from one in the Sacramento Bee by Jane Dewey, the wife of a local pistachio farmer. I tweaked the recipe a bit from the original. I prefer using a brick of white chocolate and chopping it into chunks for a more rustic look, but white chocolate chips will do just fine. I also reduced the butter and used kosher salt which gives a spark of contrast to the cookies’ sweetness.
Super chewy and amazingly good, I promise these cookies are keepers!
By the way, almost all of the pistachios grown in America are produced right here in California (we’re a lucky state, we are). It’s a surprisingly labor intensive crop that requires a lot of attention for yields that can greatly differ from year to year.
The crop is relatively new to the U.S.; up until 1976, almost all of the pistachios were imported from Iran until President Carter placed an embargo on the country.
It was then California farmers started to plant the first pistachio trees here in America. Nowadays we can get pistachios from any local market and use their rich, mellow flavors as we please.
Pistachio White Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Makes 6 dozen small cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt (can sub table salt)
- 1 cup of rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped pistachios, raw and unsalted
- 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2 Beat the butter and sugars together on high speed for three minutes.
3 Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
4 Combine dry ingredients, add to wet: In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rolled oats. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture slowly, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice to ensure even mixing.
5 Fold in the pistachios and white chocolate chips.
6 Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets, add an extra pistachio or two on top of each bit of dough for decoration if desired.
7 Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to set up on the cookie sheets before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.
