Loaded with chocolate chunks and crunchy pistachios, these chocolate chip pistachio cookies are soft and chewy with a nutty crunch. The easy cookie dough has a slight toffee edge from brown sugar, richness from an extra egg yolk and a little sprinkle of flaky sea salt to take them to another level.
Puddles of gooey chocolate, chewy and soft in the middles, crisp edges, the crunch of pistachios and just that little bit of salt on top that intensifies all the flavours – these cookies have all the textures and flavours you could want in a choc chip cookie.
I recently updated a similar favourite here on the blog – chocolate pistachio cookies – which are a thick and chewy chocolate cookie, studded with pistachios. They’ve always had great reviews and when I updated those, I just thoughT pistachios in a classic chocolate chip cookie would be wonderful – and they are.
Table of contents
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Ingredients
The ingredients in these chocolate chip and pistachio cookies are all very simple and, if you bake regularly, you may even have most of them on hand already.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Unsalted butter: You could swap the unsalted butter for salted butter but leave the extra salt out of the dough recipe.
- Flour: Just plain flour, aka all purpose flour.
- Baking soda: Also known as bicarb or bicarbonate of soda, baking soda helps to give the cookies lift and spread and helps create those crispy edges.
- Sugar: Two types of sugar give these cookies just the right sweetness and flavour. Light brown sugar and white granulated sugar.
- Eggs: You’ll need 1 whole large egg and 1 egg yolk. The extra yolk adds more richness and flavour.
- Vanilla extract: Please use pure vanilla extract, not vanilla essence which is a synthetic flavouring.
- Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate (50% cocoa solids) or semi-sweet chocolate is best here (milk chocolate will add more sweetness to your pistachio chocolate chip cookies). I use bar chocolate, roughly chopped into chunks. You can also use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips.
- Pistachios: You’re looking for pre-shelled, unsalted pistachios for this recipe. If you can only find shelled pistachios, remove the shells before measuring them out. You could also swap them for other nuts like pecans, macadamias, cashews or even peanuts.
- Flaky sea salt: or fleur de sel is a finishing salt used to intensify the flavours. I use Maldon sea salt flakes.
How to make chocolate chip pistachio cookies
These chocolate chip and pistachio cookies are so incredibly simple to make. Using melted butter in the dough makes it very easy to mix together in one bowl. You could even use browned butter for a bit more nutty richness – just make sure to use the right amount.
TIP: For even more flavour, chill the dough for 72 hours like these ULTIMATE chocolate chip cookies.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Combine the sugar and wet ingredients
Simply whisk together the sugars, melted butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl.
2. Add the dry ingredients
Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl whisking so they’re well dispersed, then add the flour mixture to your wet ingredients and fold and cut the mixture together with a spatula.
3. The add-ins
Now, add your chocolate chips and pistachios and mix until just mixed through. At this point, let the dough rest at room temperature for just 10 minutes and it will firm up so that you can roll balls.
4. Roll into balls
Roll balls of dough roughly the size of a table tennis balls (about 3 tablespoons). I use a cookie scoop, then roll the ball in my hand to smooth it out.
These pistachio chocolate chip cookies aren’t just loaded with chocolate chunks and pistachios, the dough is rolled in them right before they’re baked adding even more crunch and melty goodness.
5. Bake
Place the balls of cookie dough onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart as they do spread when they bake. Bake them for around 12 minutes until the edges are just turning golden.
6. Optional shaping
When they come out of the oven, some might have baked out of shape. This makes no difference to the flavour but if you want perfectly round cookies, while they’re still super hot, just roll a round cookie cutter around the outside of each cookie and they’ll set in a rounder shape. This is also a great trick if you want to thicken up the centre of the cookie.
Tips and tricks
- Weigh ingredients: I say this in every post and I can’t express just how important it is to weigh ingredients if you want your cookies to turn out as the recipe intends. If you simply scoop flour from a container with the cup measure you’ll likely get a lot more flour than you need which can result in dry or tough cookies. If you weigh your ingredients, you’ll get a better result and you don’t have to wash up a bunch of cup measures.
- Eat them warm: These chocolate chip pistachio cookies are so good if you eat them while they’re just a touch warm or even cooled but while the chocolate is still gooey. Yum!
- Dark chocolate chunks cut from a chocolate bar will give the perfect result here. Chocolate chips will work, but believe it or not, it will alter the way they spread and they’re overall look.
- Try browning your butter: Add the butter to a saucepan and let it bubble and cook over medium heat until it turns amber or golden brown. Immediately pour it into a separate bowl so it stops cooking. You’ll notice the fat has separated from the milk solids (which are the darker bits in the butter). You want to keep those, unless they’re black and burnt. Before adding it to your mixing bowl, measure it out to half a cup and add more plain melted butter if you need to to make up the full amount, since some of it will evaporate as it cooks.
⏰Time saving tips
- Use pistachios that have already been shelled or if you can’t find them, shell them ahead of time, so mixing the dough together is quick and straightforward.
- Chop up your chocolate ahead of time, for the same reason. You can actually chop up a load of chocolate and store it in a container in the pantry ready for whenever you want to make cookies.
- Make the dough ahead, roll into balls and chill for later. The dough will last 2-3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Storage and making them ahead
These pistachios chocolate chip cookies need to be stored in an airtight container. Room temperature is fine and they’ll keep well for 4-5 days. They can also be chilled or frozen for up to 3 months. If you zap them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before you eat them, you’ll be rewarded once again with that gooey chocolate.
You don’t need to bake all the cookies at once. The dough can be chilled for later (and the flavour actually develops more over a couple of days in the fridge) or you can freeze it for up to 3 months. I recommend scooping and rolling all the dough balls, then chill or freeze them so that you can always just grab however many you want.
To bake the chocolate chip pistachio cookies from frozen, you’ll need to add an extra 2-3 minutes to the baking time
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Ingredients
- 113 g unsalted butter melted (1 stick / ½ cup / 4oz)
- 195 g plain flour (all purp flour) (1 ½ cups / ~7oz)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb soda)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar (135g / 4.8oz)
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar (50g / 1.8oz)
- 1 large egg room temp
- 1 egg yolk room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips) (180g / 6.4oz)
- ¾ cup shelled roasted pistachios roughly chopped (110g/~4oz)
- Sea salt flakes to finish
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Large baking sheets
- Wire rack for cooling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Add the sugars. melted butter, egg, egg yolk and vanilla to a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and use a folding and cutting motion with a spatula until it’s 90% mixed through.
- Combine a good handful of each of the chocolate chips and the pistachios in a small bowl set aside. Add the rest to the dough. Mix until just combined.
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes to allow it to firm up a little.
- Roll balls of dough about the size of a ping pong ball (I use a 3 tablespoon sized cookie scoop to portion first then roll them to smooth).
- Roll just the tops of the cookie dough balls in the combined leftover chocolate chips and pistachios then place them at least 2 inches apart on the baking trays.
- Bake for around 12 minutes until the edges are golden. As soon as you take the trays out of the oven, you can use a round cookie cutter and swirl it around the cookie to make them more round if you like.
- Sprinkle on some flaky sea salt then let them cool on the trays for a few minutes before using a spatula to help to transfer them to a cooling rack. Once cool, they will firm up and be crispy on the edges but soft and chewy in the middle.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- All ovens vary – check your cookies at 10 minutes – they should look dry and ‘set’ with golden edges, but will still be very soft.
- For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- I use a bar of good quality dark chocolate, then roughly chop it up into chunks just bigger than regular chocolate chips.
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Reheat for 10-15 seconds in the microwave to bring it back to soft, gooey delicious fresh cookie flavour.
- The dough can be chilled for a few days or even frozen for up to 3 months. Roll into balls first, then you can bake just as many as you need. Bake for an extra 2-3 minutes from frozen.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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9 Comments on “Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies”
Basically the only cookies I make anymore! They come out perfectly every time. I have subbed pecans in a pinch, but best to follow recipe as is!
I’m so happy to hear this, Hannah. Thanks so much for dropping back to share your review.
These cookies are delicious! I weighed everything as suggested, and they came out perfectly!
I’m so happy you love them, Toni. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
Cant wait to try these bauties Thanks. I think I will try Macademia nuts.
They’ll be just as delicious!
Made these at the weekend and the family loved them. Thank you
I’m so happy everyone loves them, Jane. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
“Chocolate chip pistachio cookies sound absolutely delicious! The combination of rich chocolate with the nutty flavor of pistachios is such a unique twist on the classic cookie. I can’t wait to try this recipe out—it’s the perfect treat for any occasion!”