These soft chocolate chip cookies are filled with the rich, warm, cozy flavors of brown butter, brown sugar, cardamom, vanilla, almond, and plenty of roasted pistachios.
To me, the combination of chocolate and pistachios feels very rich, warm, and welcoming. Like snuggling into your comfy bed when you've just laid it with crisp, clean sheets.
So for this recipe, I went all in on that cozy vibe and added brown butter, brown sugar, cardamom, plenty of vanilla, and a touch of almond. The result are buttery, nutty chocolate chip cookies that makes me long to eat them on a crisp, cool day, wrapped in my favorite soft sweater, with warm mugs of coffee or maybe some orange spice tea.
For all of you pistachio and cardamom fans, this simple one-layer pistachio cake has a rich and creamy texture flavored with roasted pistachios, a generous amount of cardamom, and a thick layer of cream cheese buttercream.
The dough for these cookies is very similar to my chewy brown sugar cookies, which are outrageously soft and chewy with a warm, toffee-like flavor and plenty of vanilla. So if you like these, I feel pretty confident that you'll like those as well.
Both recipes start with brown butter, a magical ingredient that adds layers of flavor to anything you use it in. Try it in this brown butter cake frosted with maple miso brown butter frosting. Or in this decadent roasted fruit sauce. Or chewy white chocolate chip cookies.
Taking the time to brown the butter gives these chocolate chip pistachio cookies an irresistible warm, rich flavor that is the perfect compliment to the other flavors in the dough - pistachios, chocolate chips, cardamom, almond, and vanilla.
Pro tip! As you'll see in this recipe, cardamom, vanilla, and almond extract are added to the warm brown butter right after browning. This accomplishes two things:
- The heat from the butter opens up and intensifies the flavor of the cardamon.
- Adding cardamom, vanilla, and almond extract to the butter ensures that the fat molecules trap all that flavor and distribute it throughout the dough, resulting in a more flavorful cookie.
The process of heating spices in fat is called blooming and while this trick is mostly used in savory cooking, it's also useful in sweet treats. For example, I used it to intensify the flavor of this spice cake and this chocolate spice cake.
Step-by-step photos and instructions
So, the first step to making these cookies is to brown some butter. Browning butter is a simple process, but the warm butter does need time to cool, so plan ahead.
Cut the butter into chunks and put it in a light-colored saucepan. (Dark pans make it difficult to tell when the butter is browned.)
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty.
Once browned, pour the butter into a small bowl. Be sure to scrape all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan into the bowl - those brown specks contain a lot of flavor.
Stir some cardamom, vanilla extract, and almond extract into the warm butter and then let the butter cool completely until it's solid again.
Add all the dry ingredients to a small bowl and stir with a wire whisk to blend.
Add the egg whites to another bowl and beat them with a fork for a few seconds until they are frothy.
Add the brown butter (which should be solid, but at room temperature) and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until the mixture appears lighter in color and aerated.
Add the egg whites and beat on medium-high speed until they are completely incorporated. Stop every once in a while to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on the lowest speed just until blended.
Scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, and preferably for 24 hours. The long rest in the refrigerator gives the dough time to develop the best flavor.
When ready to bake, roll the cookie dough into balls of dough. Press the tops of the cookies into chopped pistachios, flattening them slightly, and set them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Sprinkle the top of the cookie dough balls with a bit of kosher or flaky sea salt. This is optional - if you know you like sweet and salty flavors, you'll love that little bit of crunchy salt on the top of these cookies. If you are sensitive to salt, or just don't like much salt in your sweet treats, skip this step.
Bake the cookies until they look set and the outside edges are beginning to brown but the centers still look slightly underdone. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet until they can be lifted without falling apart, then use a spatula to transfer them to a baking rack and allow them to cool completely.
An interesting thing about these cookies that isn't true with any other kind of chocolate chip cookie I've ever made is that their flavor is actually better once they've cooled completely.
I love to eat most chocolate chip cookies, like these thick and gooey chocolate chip pecan cookies, while they are still warm from the oven, with their soft centers and gooey chocolate cooled just enough to not burn my tongue.
These chocolate chip pistachio cookies are delicious while still warm. But the flavor and texture, in my opinion, are better after they've cooled completely. Test it out for yourself and let me know what you think!
More chocolate chip recipes
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me.
Happy baking!
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies
These soft chocolate chip cookies are filled with the rich, warm, cozy flavors of brown butter, brown sugar, cardamom, vanilla, almond, and plenty of roasted pistachios.
Ingredients
- 13 tablespoons (184 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup (120 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (120 grams) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups (266 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 ½ cups shelled pistachios, roasted and salted
- Kosher salt or flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
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Instructions
- Brown the butter: Cut 13 tablespoons of butter into chunks and put it in a light-colored saucepan. (Dark pans make it difficult to tell when the butter is browned.) Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and begins to boil. As you stir, pay attention to the color of the butter underneath the foam. When it's done, the butter beneath the foam will be golden brown with dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan and will smell nutty. Once browned, pour the butter into a small bowl. Be sure to scrape all the brown flecks from the bottom of the pan into the bowl - those brown specks contain a lot of flavor.
- Stir 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1 teaspoon almond extract into the butter. Let the butter cool completely until solid. You can speed the process up by placing it in the refrigerator but bring it back to room temperature before using. (Brown butter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.)
- Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup cake flour, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to blend.
- Add the two egg whites to another small bowl and whisk with a fork for a few seconds until frothy.
- Add the brown butter (the butter should be solid but at room temperature) and 1 ¼ cup brown sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture has lightened in color and is visibly aerated. This will take about 3 minutes but stop from time to time to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the egg whites to the butter and sugar mixture and beat on medium-high speed until completely incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended. Add the chocolate chips. Roughly chop the pistachios and reserve ½ cup of the chopped pistachios (these will be used to top the cookies before baking). Add the remaining chopped pistachios to the dough. Mix on low speed just until everything is mixed together.
- Scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, preferably for 24 hours. The long rest in the refrigerator gives the dough time to develop the best flavor. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- When you're ready to bake the cookies, heat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and shape it into generous golf ball-sized balls. If using a kitchen scale, use 35-40 grams of dough per cookie. Press the tops of the cookie dough balls into the reserved chopped pistachios so the balls are flattened slightly and coated with pistachios. Place the cookie dough balls on the the baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart.
- Sprinkle the top of the cookie dough balls with a bit of kosher or flaky sea salt. This is optional - if you know you like sweet and salty flavors, you'll love that little bit of crunch salt on the top of these cookies. If you are sensitive to salt, or just don't like much salt in your sweet treats, skip this step.
- Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 10-14 minutes, until the cookies look set and outside edges are starting to brown, but the centers still look slightly underdone.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet completely before removing them. They will be extremely soft right after baking but will firm up as they cool.
- Store the cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
- If you do not have cake flour here's how to make a good substitute: Measure one cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons, and replace them with cornstarch. Alternatively, you can omit the cake flour use 2 cups of all-purpose flour to make these cookies.
- The cookie dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Store baked cookies in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, but they will be softest when eaten within 2 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 168Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 150mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 2g
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