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Published 04/13/2021 Updated 03/16/2022
Have you started to enjoy the beautiful spring weather? As the weather warms up, I started to crave an afternoon cup of ice-cold coffee. After all, nothing tastes better than iced coffee on a warm spring day–but then, what should I enjoy with it? I personally think our cute and delicious pistachio butter cookies are the perfect accompaniment to coffee or tea this season!
Our pistachio butter cookies use real pistachios as the main ingredient–giving the cookies a cake-like texture with a bold nutty flavor. Topped with lemon powdered sugar icing, these cookies taste like the perfect high-tea treat! So, let’s learn how to make this homemade pistachio cookies recipe!
Before we go to the recipe, we shared some baking tips, as well as some answers to questions you may have about the cookies!
Pistachio Butter Cookies Baking Tips
Below, we listed some tips to help you bake these pistachio butter cookies!
- For this homemade pistachio cookies recipe, you can either make roasted pistachio butter using our recipe or buy some pre-made pistachio butter at the grocery store!
- We recommend chilling the cookie dough for approximately 30 minutes before you handle it. If you do not, the cookies can fall flat. While rolling the cookies into balls, you heat the dough with your hands. As such, the butter softens too much and the cookies may not hold their structure. Chilling the dough saves your cookies from getting too warm as they are formed into balls.
- As the cookies bake, they naturally become less green. If you want greener cookies, I recommend using one or two drops of green food coloring. In my case, for a reference point, I did not use artificial coloring when photographing these cookies.
- Before adding the milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice to your powdered sugar for the icing, make sure to sift the powdered sugar. As a result, you will have a nice, smooth glaze. If you do not, you may have ugly clumps of sugar in your icing.
- When making the powder sugar icing, you can adjust the amount of fresh lemon juice to your personal taste. If you want, you can even omit the lemon. Just note, the lemon flavor will be overpowering if you just taste the icing on its own. On the cookies, you will only taste a hint of fresh lemon.
Homemade Pistachio Cookies Frequently Asked Questions
Below, we listed some questions you may have about these cookies. If we do not answer your question, feel free to leave a comment or email us at [emailprotected]!
Can I Make This Recipe Gluten- and Egg-Free?
Yes, you can make this recipe gluten-free and egg-free!
As someone with celiac disease, I understand the requirements around eating gluten-free. For this recipe, I recommend using King Arther’s Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour Blend. You do not need to add any xanthan gum for this recipe– it is already in the flour blend. To make this recipe gluten-free, just replace the regular flour with gluten-free flour!
Excitingly, this recipe is naturally egg-free. While many cookie recipes contain eggs, this one does not!
Can Make the Dough in Advance?
Before parties, I often make certain recipes, such as cookies, in advance. Then, I refrigerate or freeze the dough until the date of the party! It saves a lot of energy on the day of the event.
For this cookie recipe, you can leave the cookie dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed container. Typically, I keep it in the bowl with a lid or place plastic wrap over the top.
If you need to keep the dough any longer, I recommend freezing it. To freeze the cookie dough, place it into a freezer-safe container. You can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Check often to make sure it doesn’t get any freezer burn.
Note: If you do freeze the cookies, make sure to fully defrost the dough before you attempt to bake them. Otherwise, your cookies will not bake fully or evenly.
Cookie Tip: If you want to freeze these cookies, and do not care if they look like little balls, we recommend rolling the dough into a log form. That way, when you defrost the cookies, you can simply slice and bake them!
Do These Cookies Taste Delicious Without the Icing?
I love these cookies with and without the lemon powdered sugar icing. Both versions taste delicious!!!
With the icing glaze, the cookies taste sweeter and have a hint of lemon. I can usually eat 1-3 of the cookies at a time with the icing.
On the other hand, the pistachio butter cookies taste less sweet without the powdered sugar icing. The nuttiness of the pistachios come forward much more. Because they are less sweet, I can eat 3-5 cookies in one sitting.
How Should I Store My Cookies?
These pistachio butter cookies are best served the day they are baked. If you have any leftover cookies, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day. After that, I recommend storing these cookies in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Once refrigerated, you may notice the cookies get a bit harder. To make them soft again, let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
What Should I Serve With These Pistachio Butter Cookies?
I enjoy eating these cookies the most with tea or coffee. Typically, in the afternoons and evenings, I will serve these cookies with decaf!
Do You Enjoy Pistachios?
In the end, do you enjoy eating pistachios? If so, let us know of any pistachio recipes you enjoy. We would love to hear of any recommendations in the comment section!
Also, we listed further pistachio recipes you may enjoy from Carving A Journey below!
Carving A Journey Drinks to Enjoy With Our Pistachio Butter Cookies:
- Burnt Brown Sugar Syrup Iced Latte
- Korean Strawberry Milk
- Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade
- Dalgona Coffee (Korean Whipped Coffee)
- Cold Brew Iced Coffee
Carving A Journey Pistachio Recipes:
- Pistachio Butter Recipes
- Meringue Christmas Tree Cookies with Pistachios
- White Chocolate and Smoked Salt Pistachio Brittle
Further, if you want to try different types of nut butters, we recommend checking out our list of different nut butter recipes! We listed different recipes from different food writers and bloggers. You can find our pistachio butter recipe on the list as well!
Finally, if you have any questions or comments, you can also email us at [emailprotected]. We would also love to hear from you through our social media as well! You can follow us at @carvingajourney on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Or, if you would like more articles like these, you can subscribe to our blog by joining our mailing list. We hope you enjoyed our pistachio butter cookies! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Pistachio Butter Cookies (Pistachio Cookies Recipe)
5 from 1 vote
Recipe by EmilyCourse: Recipes, DessertDifficulty: Easy
Prep time
45
minutes
Cooking time
15
minutes
Total time
1
hour
Our pistachio butter cookies use real pistachios as the main ingredient–giving the cookies a cake-like texture with a bold nutty flavor. Topped with lemon powdered sugar icing, these cookies taste like the perfect treat! *Gluten-free option listed below!
Ingredients
- Pistachio Butter Cookies
1 Cup Softened Butter
1/8 TSP Salt
1/2 Cup Confectioners (Powdered) Sugar
2 TBSP Brown Sugar
1 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
1/2 TSP Almond Extract
2 1/4 Cup Flour (*Gluten-free Option Listed in Notes Below)
3/4 Cup Pistachio Butter
Optional: 1 Drop Green Food Coloring
- Lemon Powdered Sugar Icing
1 Cup Confectioners (Powdered) Sugar, Sifted
2 TBSP Whole Milk
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
1/2 TSP Fresh Lemon Juice
Directions
- If you are making homemade pistachio butter, do so before starting to make the cookies. You can find our recipe here. Otherwise, use store bought pistachio butter.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy (approximately 1 minute). Then, add the salt, confectioners’ sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Continue to beat on medium-high heat until fully combined. Then, add the flour*, pistachio butter, and optional food coloring.
Beat on medium-high speed until combined. The cookie dough will be thick–it may take a few minutes to fully combine.
- Beat on medium-high speed until combined. The cookie dough will be thick–it may take a few minutes to fully combine. Note: You may need to add a bit of water to the dough if it is too dry. This depends on the oil levels of your pistachio butter as well as the type of flour you used.
- Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using your hands, roll the cookie dough into small one-inch balls. Place the balls about two inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes until the bottom edges turn golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. Then, transfer them onto a wire rack. Let the cookies cool completely.
- While the cookies cool, prepare the lemon powdered sugar icing. First, sift the powdered confectioners sugar through a fine mesh sieve. Then, add the whole milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Stir together to completely combine–until there are no lumps left. If the icing hardens, just stir it again until it becomes creamy liquid again.
- Dip the cookies in the icing. Place the cookies back onto the baking sheet and let the icing set for 1-2 hours. Cover the leftover iced cookies and store at room temperature for 1 day. Then, refrigerate and store for up to a week.
Notes
- *We recommend using King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Flour for this recipe. Simply switch out the regular flour for the gluten-free version. If you use a different flour blend, make sure it has xantham gum in the ingredients.
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Carving A Journey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Although we may earn commissions for our endorsem*nt, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website, these opinions are my own and I fully support these products.
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