Pistachio white chocolate cookies are delightfully sweet and salty in one delicious bite. They’re very easy to make too! See below for lots of baking tips, FAQs and step-by-step photos.
(Love white chocolate? Treat yourself to some White Chocolate Blackberry Muffins or to a slice of No-Bake Raspberry White Chocolate Tart!)
I know white chocolate and macadamia cookies are the usual cookie combination but pistachios and white chocolate go so well together I actually prefer it!
These cookies are delightfully sweet (but not too sweet), salty (but not too salty), and chewy (wonderfully so).
Let’s get to it! Get ready to meet your new favorite cookie.
How to make
These cookies are quick and easy to whip up.
Ingredients
To make pistachio cookies, you’ll need pantry staples like all purpose flour, baking soda, vanilla extract and eggs. Some things to note:
- Demerara sugar – I like using demerara sugar in this recipe for its light caramel flavor. However, you can also use light brown sugar.
- White chocolate chips – you can also use your favorite white chocolate and roughly chop for white chocolate chunks!
- Shelled salted pistachios – ideally, you’d want to use salted pistachios that are already shelled for convenience and ease. But regular pistachios are fine too, you’ll just need to factor in the time you’ll spend removing the shells.
(Got extra pistachios? Make some baklava thumbprint cookies!)
Baking tools
When baking cookies, I usually use my stand-mixer but a handheld electric mixer works too.
My favorite tools include:
- Nordicware natural aluminum baking sheets
. Because I own a couple of big ones, I can bake big batches of cookies in one go (using the convection setting in our oven so the heat is distributed evenly). I also have a few dark coloured baking pans that’s useful when I’m baking a small batch.
. Because I own a couple of big ones, I can bake big batches of cookies in one go (using the convection setting in our oven so the heat is distributed evenly). I also have a few dark coloured baking pans that’s useful when I’m baking a small batch.- OXO 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop. It helps me make equally sized cookies and it’s great for ice cream too!
. It helps me make equally sized cookies and it’s great for ice cream too!- Digital kitchen scale. Ours is very old and is not available anymore but any kitchen scale will do. Trust me, it will improve your baking tenfold.
. Ours is very old and is not available anymore but any kitchen scale will do. Trust me, it will improve your baking tenfold- Oven thermometer. I never bake without an oven thermometer hanging in my oven. Those little gadgets are lifesavers.
. I never bake without an oven thermometer hanging in my oven. Those little gadgets are lifesavers.Step-by-step photos
Whisk all your dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and demerara sugar.
Cream until light and fluffy.
Stir in egg and vanilla extract.
Continue beating until they’re both incorporated.
Switch your mixer to low speed and add your flour mixture a little at a time.
Stir until combined.
Fold white chocolate chips and pistachios.
The batter will be very sticky and that’s okay.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.
When you’re ready, preheat oven to 375F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop a tablespoon of batter into your pan and make sure to space them properly, about 2 inches apart. Do not flatten.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Do not over bake.
Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. This recipe yields 24-30 cookies.
Easy, right? Here are more tips for perfect cookies every time.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. They are easier to combine and results to better cookies.
- Measure flour correctly. Using the incorrect amount of flour can lead to crumbly cookies or cookies that will spread too much. I always use a kitchen scale but if you don’t have one, fluff up your flour before using it then spoon into your measuring cup.
- Don’t over-bake the cookies. As soon as the edges start to set, even if the middle still looks a little under-baked, you can take the cookies out of the oven. They will continue cooking in the pan. Over-baking these cookies will make them dry and crumbly.
- Re-shape cookies with a cookie cutter. Are your cookies not perfectly round? No worries, you can easily re-shape them with a cookie cutter while still warm.
Recipe FAQs
Chocolate purists scoff at white chocolate. I don’t blame them. White chocolate is not chocolate at all; it doesn’t contain chocolate solids (or cocoa powder).
What it’s made of is a blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, sugar, milk fat and lecithin — a fatty emulsifier that holds it all together.
For me (and I guess other white chocolate fans??) well, potato, po-tah-toh. It tastes good!
You do need to be a careful when buying white chocolate though because not all white chocolate are made the same.
There are basically two kinds – the good, high-quality white chocolate, typically used for melting and drizzling, and the regular white chocolate chips, what I used here.
I usually spring for the “good” white chocolate
if I know the white chocolate will be the star of the show (for this homemade chocolate bark, for example). For cookies like this, white chocolate chips
do just fine.
Here’s a really interesting white chocolate test folks over at Cook’s Illustrated did.
I know white chocolate and macadamia nuts are the default white chocolate cookie combination. And in fact that was my original plan.
I have this cookbook (one of my favourite ones) – Guittard Chocolate Cookbook
– that had a recipe for it but I just could not bring myself to buy macadamia nuts because they’re ridiculously expensive in these parts.
We did have a whole bag of pistachios
though. And I do love experimenting. I have to say this was a very delicious one!
I also switched up the kind of sugar used. Demerara
has a natural toffee, caramel-y flavor which gives warm, caramel notes to baked goods. And I also find it less sweet than brown sugar, which was what the original recipe called for.
Demerara worked wonderfully here. It resulted to a cookie that has a hint of caramel without the overwhelming sweetness caramel is sometimes known for.
(Speaking of caramel, have you tried my Salted Caramel Sauce? Delicious! Perfect for cakes and cupcakes and ice cream and just, you know, eating with a spoon.)
I go into more detail about chilling cooking dough when I shared my recipe for Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies.
For this particular recipe though, I always chill the batter before baking to help minimize spreading and to help the cookies keep their shape.
You have two options here (well, three if you’re not really a chilled-batter kind of baker, which is perfectly fine too).
One, you can roll the batter into balls, place them on your cookie sheet then chill the whole sheet before baking.
If you don’t have fridge space there’s option two: chill the batter, roll them into balls then bake (I prefer option 2 – I roll them while I’m preheating my oven).
Option 2 requires some strength and stamina as the batter gets tough (don’t worry, it’s a nice kind of tough); I just like to think of it as the calories I burn now so I can eat 2 cookies later (The Cookie Workout, you saw it here first!).
You can store these cookies in an airtight container on the counter and they will last up to 5 days.
To keep them chewy, try putting a piece of white bread in your cookie jar. The cookies absorb the moisture from the bread, helping keep them chewy longer.
Deliciously sweet and salty treats
I love how these cookies turn out. Sweet and delicate white chocolate, touch of caramel, salty pistachios. Perfect every time.
Try these other sweet and salty recipes:
Are you a fan of white chocolate and pistachios like I am? You will love this pistachio cheesecake.
Happy baking!
Did you make white chocolate pistachio cookies? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
And let’s get social! Find me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Pistachio White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup demerara sugar packed
- 1 pc large egg room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3.5 oz white chocolate chips
- 3.5 oz shelled salted pistachios roughly chopped
Instructions
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.1 ½ cups all purpose flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt
- Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and demerara sugar until light and smooth (2-3 minutes on medium high speed).½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup demerara sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue beating until incorporated.1 pc large egg, ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Switch to low speed and add your flour mixture a little at a time and stir until combined.
- Fold white chocolate chips and pistachios. The batter will be very sticky.3.5 oz white chocolate chips, 3.5 oz shelled salted pistachios
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop a tablespoon of batter into your pan and make sure to space them properly, about 2 inches apart. Do not flatten.
- Bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Do not over bake.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. This recipe yields 24-30 cookies.
Video
Notes
- For the yield, it depends on how big or small you scoop your cookie dough. I use a 2-tbsp medium cookie scoop and usually get 24-30 cookies. The estimated nutrition information provided is based on 24 cookies.
- Instead of demerara sugar, you can use light brown sugar.
- See post for baking tips, FAQs and step-by-step photos.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Maggie Unzueta
I’ve seen these cookies everywhere today. Maybe that’s a sign that I need to make your recipe. 🙂
Jolina
I’d say so 🙂 Hope you like them!
Kimberly
This is such a great idea for cookies! My husband prefers white chocolate chips to semi-sweet chocolate, and he loves pistachios. Will definitely have to make these for him. Sounds like a perfect sweet and salty combination. I’m going to have to look for Demerara. Haven’t heard of it.
Jolina
Thanks! I prefer white chocolates too and I think these are pretty awesome (I am biased of course lol!) If you can’t find demerara, light brown sugar will work too 🙂 Hope you guys like these!
Andrea
I love the way these cookies look. Macadamia nut isn’t absolute fave but these look divine!
Heather
Well these look absolutely delicious! I”ll have to make them for my hubs — he likes white chocolate! Pinned for later! 😉
Jolina
Hope you guys like it! Thanks for the pin 🙂
Liz Mays
I could really use a couple of these cookies! I love pistachios and this combination sounds so good!
katriza
Wow I’ve never tried white chocolate together with Pistachio but they are my two favorite flavors! I can’t wait to try this! I’m sure my kids will love to make this with me!
Jolina
It would definitely make for a fun baking afternoon! Enjoy! Hope you guys like the cookies 🙂
Krysten
I love the colors of these cookies. I have to admit, I would have done the same thing. I would have gone with something that I already have instead of paying ridiculous prices for a nut that I didn’t necessarily need. Plus these look like they came out fantastic!
Crystal
I clicked on this link as soon as I saw the title of the post because I love white chocolate macadamia cookies, but like you, I’m not willing to spend the money on macadamia nuts because of how expensive they are here. I’ll have to try this out sometime. 🙂
Jolina
Right?? I have no idea why they are so expensive. Maybe coz we’re so far up North lol. Pistachios is a lovely alternative if I say myself 🙂
Hal
These look perfect for March – the little pop of green would be great for Saint Patrick’s Day!
Jolina
That’s what I thought! After the fact of course, once I saw all the St. Patrick’s Day recipes floating around lol.
Kristina Paché Ferency
These look delicious! Never thought of a pistachio and white chocolate combo but I love cookies and would love to try these! Maybe give a dozen to my dad because he is a huge pistachio fan!
Jolina
Sounds like a plan 🙂 Hope your dad likes them!
Leah
My daughter is very selective of her cookies but she said she would love if we made these!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Jolina
Nice! And you guys can make a baking afternoon of it 🙂 Hope you and your daughter like these!
Rachel
These look so delicious. I love the use of pistachios instead of macadamia nuts! Yum!!!
Jamie H
I actually think I would prefer the pistachios in this to macadamia nuts. I love the flavor of pistachios, plus they add such a pretty pop of color to your cookies!
Jolina
Oh me too come to think of it. And the complement the white chocolate really well!
Tori
Everything about these makes me feel like I need them in my life. Definitely saving to make later! Yum!
Jolina
LOL yes I definitely recommend it 🙂 Hope you like them!
christine
I’ll take pistachio over macadamia any day. These sound really good, I’m such a fan of salty and sweet together