If you’ve ever had chocolate and pistachio together, you’ll know what great partners they make and these chocolate pistachio cookies are no exception. They’re crisp on the edges but thick and soft inside and studded with gorgeous green pistachio nuts and they’re just so good!

The very simple but rich and delicious chocolate cookie dough, loaded with those nuts, is rolled into logs and chilled until firm. From there, they’re simple to slice and bake at will meaning you can have just a few each day or make a big batch to share.

The stunning contrast of the green and dark brown cookie is gorgeous too and the sweet, rich and nutty flavour will have everyone coming back for more.

You’ll love these pistachio chocolate chocolate chip muffins too.

This recipe was first published right here on September 4th, 2018 and has been updated with clearer instructions and step by step photos.

Angled closeup of a chocolate pistachio cookie topped with a chocolate drizzle.

Table of contents

Ingredients

The ingredients in these chocolate and pistachio cookies are super simple, everyday items and, while the pistachios are stunning and taste so lovely, you can try other nuts here too.

Ingredients for chocolate pistachio cookies.

Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.

  • Flour: Just plain flour (aka all purpose flour), is all you need.
  • Cornflour: Known in some places as cornstarch, cornflour is a starch often used to thicken sauces, but it’s also wonderful for making cakes and cookies soft.
  • Dutch processed cocoa: I love using dutch process cocoa powder for it’s dark colour but regular unsweetened cocoa powder will work too.
  • Baking soda: Also known as bicarbonate of soda, or bicarb soda, baking soda gives the cookies a bit of lift and texture.
  • Sugar: A combination of dark brown sugar (you can also use light brown sugar) and white granulated sugar gives the right amount of sweetness but also contributes to the texture here. I tend to use caster sugar (aka superfine sugar) in place of granulated in all my baking.
  • Butter: Unsalted butter will work best here.
  • Vanilla extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavour and steer away from vanilla essence.
  • Milk: A little whole milk, or light milk, adds a bit of moisture to the cookies and helps to keep the dough pliable.
  • Pistachios: I use already shelled, unsalted pistachios.
  • Dark chocolate: This is part two of the chocolate in these nutty chocolate cookies. It’s simply drizzled over at the end and adds a next level of flavour and elegance. I just melt some chocolate chunks from a dark chocolate bar.

How to make pistachio chocolate cookies

If you need another reason to bake up a batch of these pistachio chocolate cookies, other than the amazing flavour, it has to be the slice-and-bake form. The cookie dough is rolled into a log shape, then firmed up in the fridge for a short time before simply slicing cookie rounds and baking.

This dough can sit in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for up to 3 months, meaning you have cookies ready to bake at a moments notice and, since they only take 11 minutes to bake, you can literally be serving these up to your very grateful guests in under 20 minutes.

Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.

1. The dry ingredients

Simple sift, then whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl to remove any lumps and disperse them. Set that mixture aside.

The dry ingredients for the cookies.

2. Cream the butter and sugar

Now, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until it’s looking fluffy and creamy. This process is called creaming and is used to add air to the mixture. I use my stand mixer with paddle attachment here to keep it a little hands off but you can also use a handheld electric mixer.

The butter, sugars and vanilla beaten until creamy.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients

The next step is to combine the two sets of ingredients, so add half the flour mixture into the butter mixture and just beat on low until it comes together. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and the milk until you have a very thick clumping dough with just a few bits of flour that haven’t quite been mixed in.

The dough after adding the dry ingredients and the milk.

Now, add the chopped pistachios and give it another mix just until they’re distributed throughout the chocolate cookie dough. Be careful not to overmix.

The cookie dough after adding the pistachios.

4. Roll into logs and chill

Yes, you need to chill these chocolate pistachio cookies but it’s actually a bonus in this case. Since you chill it in logs and it keeps well in the fridge for a few days, you can happily just slice off a few each day and bake them up fresh as a treat and who doesn’t love a freshly baked cookie?

So, break the dough into two portions and roll each of them into a log. The dough is a little tacky, so as you’re rolling it into a log, it may start to stick to the worktop at some point and that’s the point to transfer it to plastic wrap, roll it up and continue to shape it that way. Press and roll it out until you have a log that’s about 4cm/1 ½ inches thick. Then repeat with the other one and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Rolling the cookie dough in plastic wrap.
Two long logs of chocolate pistachio cookie dough.

5. Slice and bake

And the part you’ve been waiting for with these gorgeous chocolate slice and bake cookies. Take the rolls (or just do 1 and save the other for later) out of the fridge and slice into 1cm / ⅖ inch rounds. You can slice thinner cookies but be aware they’ll bake quicker.

A log of dough, that's been chilled, sliced into cookies.

Space them out about 1 ½ inches apart on a baking sheet lined with baking paper as they will spread as they bake, then bake for 11 minutes. Done!

12 raw cookies on a baking sheet ready to bake.

Let them cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking trays, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before drizzling over melted chocolate.

Tips and tricks

  • Weigh ingredients for best results: You will always get the best result by weighing ingredients where a weight is given. This is especially true for very fine ingredients like flour, cornflour and cocoa. So, if you want perfect cookies use a kitchen scale. Once you get used to using one, you’ll likely prefer it especially when you realise you can weigh straight into your bowl and not have to wash up a bunch of cup measures.
  • Don’t overmix the dough: Overmixing the dough can result in tough cookies, so don’t mix the dough too much – just enough to bring everything together.
  • Make them round again: When they come out of the oven, you’ll notice some of the cookies might be a bit misshapen or spread more than you’d like. They’re perfectly delicious and edible but if you want them to be more uniformly round, just place a larger round cookie cutter over each cookie and move it around in circles around each cookie. This will reshape them slightly and can even thicken them up again.
Top down view of 12 chocolate pistachio cookies on a sheet of baking paper.

Variations

These soft and chewy chocolate pistachio cookies are gorgeous just as they are but everyone loves to get creative so why not change them up a little to your own tastes.

Make them extra special by adding a light scattering of sea salt flakes as soon as they come out of the oven. You can also take the chocolate to another level by adding some mini chocolate chips through the dough. You’ll get lots of gooey bits straight from the oven and if you want to do this, make sure to really press the dough together firmly. You could also drizzle over a little white chocolate or caramelised white chocolate.

Try using salted butter in place of the unsalted for a little extra background saltiness. So good. Other nuts are great too like cashews, pecans or peanuts.

You can shape them differently too. If you don’t feel like the slice and bake method, try using a cookie scoop or roll cookie dough balls and bake those.

Storage

These cookies will store well at room temperature in an airtight container for 4-5 days or a few days longer in the fridge.

The cookie dough can be chilled for 3-4 days in the fridge before baking or frozen for up to 3 months.

With those bright pops of green these chocolate and pistachios cookies would be wonderful for Christmas. The very simplicity of making them in large batches is great for the festive season too so they’ll make perfect gifts for everyone you love.

A stack of 5 chocolate cookies.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Did you try this chocolate pistachio cookies recipe? Show it some love in the comments below.

Hungry for more?

Top down view of 9 chocolate pistachoi cookies.

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

Yield: 40 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 11 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
4.6 from 9 ratings
Chocolate pistachio cookies are rich, thick and soft with the crunch of pistachio nuts. With loads of flavour, these simple slice-and-bake cookies are delish!
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Ingredients

  • 260 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (2 cups / 9.2oz)
  • 45 g cornflour (US cornstarch) (⅓ cup)
  • ½ cup dutch processed cocoa powder (55g/~2oz)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda bicarb soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 150 g dark brown sugar (¾ cup packed / 5.3oz)
  • 100 g caster sugar (superfine sugar, or granulated) (½ cup / 3 ½oz)
  • 190 g unsalted butter room temp (~6 ½ oz)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ½ tablespoons milk (10 tsp, notes 1)
  • 140 g pistachios roughly chopped (1 cup/~5oz)
  • 100 g dark chocolate melted for drizzling (3 ½ oz)
  • Pistachio crumbs for decorating

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Equipment

  • Standmixer with paddle attachment helpful but not essential
  • or electric mixer
  • plastic wrap
  • 2 Large baking sheets

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced)/ 350f. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
  • Sift together the flour, cornflour, cocoa and baking soda. Add the salt, then whisk the dry ingredients together to distribute evenly.
  • In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, both sugars and vanilla until lightened and fluffy (4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl from time to time).
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add half the flour mixture. Beat on low until just combined.
  • Add the milk and remainder of the flour and mix until it just starts to come together.
  • Finally, add the pistachios and give the mixture another beat until mixed through and the dough is clumping
  • Pull the dough together with your hands and split in half. Roll each half into a long log (it will be tacky), then roll into a piece of plastic wrap. Continue to firmly smooth and roll the dough until you have a log about then 4cm/1 ½ inches thick. Chill in the fridge for 30-45 until firm (or in the freezer for later).
  • Slice each log into roughly 1cm/⅖ inch thick pieces and place onto the baking trays at least 1 inch apart. Bake for around 11 minutes, turning the trays halfway through.
  • As soon as you take the trays out of the oven, you can roll a round cookie cutter around the outside of the cookies if some have spread and you want them to be nice and round. This will only work while they’re still hot.
  • Allow them to cool on the trays for a few minutes before using a spatula to help to transfer them to a cooling rack.
  • Once cool, drizzle with extra melted chocolate and sprinkle with pistachio crumbs
  • Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.

Notes

  1. Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
  2. Make sure when rolling the dough that you press it together firmly.
  3. The dough will slice best when it is firm and with a sharp knife.
  4. Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
MORE COOKIE RECIPES!
Calories: 124kcal
Author: Marie Roffey
Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Snack, Sweets
Cuisine: Various
Love this recipe?Add Sugar Salt Magic as a preferred Google source.
Nutrition information is approximate only and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use and any changes you make may cause variations.

Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Amount Per Serving (28 g)
Calories 124 Calories from Fat 63
% Daily Value*
Fat 7g11%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 10mg3%
Sodium 59mg3%
Potassium 85mg2%
Carbohydrates 15g5%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 7g8%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 136IU3%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 13mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.