Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have been trying to keep my Pinterest recipes organized, but I have to say that I don’t do the best job of that. The main improvement that I have managed is to create a board of things I have made, and once I make a recipe, I move it to that board. I know there’s a way to mark what you’ve made, but that didn’t work for me. It does help a lot, although every once in a while, I find a recipe to make that I’ve already made. This recipe was in my folder for items I’ve made, but I can find no trace of making them, so I don’t know…

I had some roasted, shelled pistachios and I’ve been eyeing different recipes that call for what I have. My husband also recently mentioned that the can of mixed nuts that we had only had the nuts he didn’t care for as much. I had hoped I would have enough pistachios for both the pistachios and the pistachio butter, but the butter I made was primarily almonds, with some pistachios thrown in for good measure. To make the butter, simply grind the nuts in a food processor until finely ground and begins to look like coarse peanut butter.

I hadn’t planned to refrigerate the dough, but I find that cookies taste a lot better if you actually follow the instructions, so I refrigerated the dough overnight. These cookies bake up like chocolate chip cookies, although I find them to be a little softer. Allowing the dough to refrigerate lets the pistachio flavor come through, which I like. These cookies used dark chocolate baking chunks, which can be very powerful! If you prefer a sweeter cookie, I am sure they would work just as well with regular chocolate chips.

Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup pistachio butter
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chunks
½ cup roasted, shelled pistachios

Make the dough: in a large mixer bowl beat the butter, pistachio butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again on medium to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. When the flour is almost incorporated, stop the mixer, add the chocolate chunks and pistachios, and mix on low until the dough comes together. 

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. 

Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the dough into the prepared baking sheets, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons per cookie.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are puffed. The cookies may look slightly underdone. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe from Sugar Hero