These pistachio chocolate cookies were a marriage of two delicious ideas. First, one of the most popular recipes we’ve ever developed has been our Italian-Style Pistachio Cream. It’s #goneviral (look, we don’t make the rules) for a reason — it’s so delicious! Of course you can use the cream to make the Dubai Chocolate Bar. We also use it to flavor a custard in our Ruffled Phyllo Pistachio Cream Pie.
And the second idea? Making cookies with brown butter. It takes a little longer and a little more care, but we believe it gives the cookies a much more interesting, toasty-nutty flavor.
Therefore, now that Christmas cookie season is upon us, we decided to marry the two. The pistachio cream works perfectly as a filling for brown butter chocolate chip cookies. These stuffed cookies are soft, thick and chewy, with a rich, almost caramelized flavor from the brown butter. Their center is nutty and creamy, with real pistachio flavor. They’re also so pretty, with that gooey, bright green filling. They’d really stand out on a cookie plate, or in a holiday treat gift box.
You can either use our pistachio cream recipe to make your own, or purchased a store-bought jar. We’ll go over the pros and cons below.
What is pistachio cream?
Pistachio cream (also called Crema al Pistacchio) is a sweet spread made from blended pistachios, sugar, and often white chocolate and milk. It’s rich, nutty, and creamy, similar to Nutella but deep green, with a distinct pistachio flavor. Depending on the brand, it can vary in texture from super soft and runny, to thick, almost like marzipan. It’s probably most known as an ingredient in viral Dubai chocolate bars.
If you’re looking to buy a jar, here are few things to keep in mind. Pistachio cream is different from pistachio butter, which is usually made with just nuts. To add confusion, some brands use the term “butter” when the product is actually “cream” (sweetened, spreadable, dessert-like). Check the description and ingredients carefully if you haven’t used a brand before. Different brands can vary greatly in both sweetness and texture.
We’ve tried Campo D’Oro, which has a nice color and is quite sweet. Gusto Etna is another good choice. Pisti is also a popular choice, but it is noticeably darker in color, if that matters to you.
To make 36 filled cookies, you’ll need about 430 grams (15 ounces) of pistachio cream (plus a little more if you want to swirl some on top). Most jars are around 8 ounces, so you’ll need two to fill all the cookies. You can also fill as many cookies as you have paste for, and leave some unfilled (these are really tasty even without the filling).
Jarred pistachio cream usually is very smooth and on the runny side, so it’s imperative to freeze the portioned centers fully or they’ll be hard to work with.
We prefer to make our own homemade pistachio cream for a few reasons. For one, it’s much more affordable. We know exactly what’s in it, and we can adapt the flavor and texture according to what we plan to use it for. For instance, for these cookies, we make a slightly thicker version that is easier to use as a filling. We also make ours less sweet than store versions, just because we like it better that way.
If you use our recipe for Pistachio Cream, you will need about 1 1/2 times the original recipe amount to fill all 36 cookies. We found the thickness was about right for easy filling. You could add more or less milk or cream to your paste to vary the texture.
Portion the filling & freeze
Regardless of whether you use homemade or store-bought pistachio cream, you’ll need to freeze the portioned filling. This makes it possible to wrap the cookie dough around it. If your pistachio cream is particularly runny, chill the jar in the refrigerator for an hour or so to make it easier to portion.
To portion the filling, line a baking sheet with parchment and use a small cookie scoop or a spoon to portion out 2 teaspoonsful (about 12 grams) dollops. Place the tray in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. If you want to do this more than 30 minutes ahead, cover the tray with plastic wrap, to maintain freshness.
How (and why) to brown butter
If you’re going to make a chocolate chip cookie, you might as well make it a really good chocolate chip cookie. Browning the butter gives the cookies a deeper, almost caramelized flavor from the toasted milk solids (those little brown bits). And here, we spent 20 seconds making a little video for you:
The easiest way to brown butter is to cut it into tablespoons and cook it in a light-colored skillet (like this 8-inch All Clad). The wider surface area allows the butter to heat more evenly and quickly. The light color helps you see how dark the butter gets. You can also use a small saucepan, as long as it’s thick enough not to scorch the butter.
Have a heat-proof bowl ready to transfer the butter into. Turn the heat on medium and as the butter melts and begins to foam and sputter, stir it and scrape the bottom of the pan frequently with a silicone spatula. This prevents the milk solids from sticking to the bottom and burning.
The sputtering will eventually subside, and the butter will become very foamy. Pay attention to the change in color and the nutty aroma. Continue stirring until the milk solids at the bottom turn a golden brown, amber color (not black). The foam may not dissipate before the solids turn the correct color: see the section below on butter quality.
Once the butter is nicely browned and smells nutty, immediately scrape the brown butter, including all the brown bits, into the heat-proof bowl, which will stop the cooking process. If you leave it in the pan, the residual heat can quickly turn the butter from brown to burnt. Allow the butter to cool to room temperature before making the dough (it doesn’t need to be solid).
Does butter quality matter when browning?
The short answer is yes. Most store-brand American butters have more water (up to 20%) and less butterfat than European butters (often around 15% water content). A higher water content means that the water will take longer to boil off as foam. This runs a greater risk that the butter solids at the bottom of the pan will burn.
In contrast, higher-quality, European-style butters foam less, cook faster, and produce more flavorful browned butter. Of course, that European butter is quite a bit more expensive, so we rarely use it for baking. If you’re using less expensive American butter, have patience, use a lower heat and scrape the bottom of the pan with a silicone spatula constantly, especially once the browning begins.
Make the cookie dough
If you have the time, we recommend making the cookie dough up to two days ahead. Allowing the dough to rest in the fridge does a few things. It hydrates the flour particles, which results in a chewier, thicker texture. It solidifies the fats, which helps prevents the dough from spreading. And most importantly, the dough develops a richer, more complex flavor. So it’s worth it if you have the time. (If not, the cookies will still be very tasty.)
To start the dough, you’ll want to line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (If you only have 1 baking sheet, bake them in batches and chill the remaining dough.)
Once the browned butter has cooled, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You can also use a large bowl and a hand-held beater. Add both sugars and beat on medium speed until it turns creamy and light. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed.
Add the eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat on medium. Add the vanilla and mix until well combined.
Pause the mixer and add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Turn the mixer on low speed and let it run until it’s mostly combined. A few streaks of flour are fine.
Add in the chocolate and crushed pistachios, and continue to mix on low until the additions are evenly distributed and no streaks of flour remain.
As we mentioned above, you can chill the dough for up to 48 hours. Take the dough out of the refrigerator about 20 minutes before you’re ready to form the cookies.
Form the cookies
When you’re ready to form the cookies, remove the frozen pistachio cream portions from the freezer.
Scoop a heaping 1 ½ tablespoon-sized spoonful of dough (about 30-35 grams), and use your palm to flatten the cookie dough ball into a disk, then place a frozen ball of pistachio cream in the center. Fold the overhanging cookie dough on top of the pistachio cream, making sure it is completely concealed inside each cookie. Roll into an even ball and place on one of the parchment-lined sheets.
Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. If you run out of filling, just bake a few cookies without the stuffing (they’ll still be delicious). For now, place the balls near each other but not touching, so you can fit them all on 1 tray. Place the tray in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or the freezer for at least 15 minutes, to allow cookie dough balls to re-chill.
Once they’re re-chilled, use the other lined baking sheet as well and space each cookie dough ball at least 2 inches apart. (If you want a pistachio swirl on top, thin out a little extra pistachio cream and use a spoon to top each cookie dough ball with some of the extra cream. You could also sprinkle over some chopped pistachios and a little sprinkle of flaky salt if you like).
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies just start to turn golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring because they’ll be a bit fragile until they cool a little).
Pistachio Cream Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 430 g homemade or store-bought pistachio cream about 1 1/2 cups total, chilled in the refrigerator. A little extra is nice, if you have it, for topping
- 225 g unsalted butter (1 cup)
- 200 g light brown sugar (1 cup)
- 135 g granulated sugar (⅔ cup)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
- 360 g all purpose flour (2 ¾ cups + 2 Tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 200 g semi or bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate bar) (1 cup)
- 100 g toasted pistachios chopped (1/2 cup), plus more for sprinkling, if desired
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the pistachio filling:
- If needed, place the jar of pistachio cream in the refrigerator for an hour or so to make it easier to scoop. Stir well if the oil has separated. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and drop 2-teaspoon (12 grams) dollops of pistachio cream onto sheet. Place in the freezer to harden while you prepare the dough.
Brown the butter:
- Cut butter into tablespoons and add to a small saucepan set over medium heat. Once the butter melts and begins foaming, swirl and scrape the sides and bottom of the pan frequently with a heatproof spatula as the butter bubbles. Once the bubbling slows, the butter will begin to turn golden, smell nutty, and develop little brown specks. Watch it carefully and as soon as the specks are brown (not black), remove from heat quickly and pour immediately into a large, heatproof bowl, scraping to include all the brown bits.
- Allow the butter to cool for 25-30 minutes, until no longer warm to the touch, before proceeding with the recipe. You can refrigerate the bowl to make this step go a little faster.
Prepare the dough:
- Once the browned butter has cooled, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and a hand-held beater). Add both sugars and beat on medium speed until creamy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat on medium. Add the vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until it’s mostly combined. A few streaks of flour are fine.
- Add in the chocolate and crushed pistachios and continue to mix until evenly distributed and no streaks of flour remain. Chill dough in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to 72 hours*.
Form and bake:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. The dough will need at least 15 minutes to warm before it can be scooped and formed into balls. You can leave the pistachio cream frozen until the dough is ready to shape.
- Scoop a heaping 1 ½ Tbsp-sized (or around 30g) spoonful of dough and use your palm to flatten the cookie dough ball into a disk, then place a frozen ball of pistachio cream in the center. Fold the overhanging cookie dough on top of the pistachio cream, making sure it is completely concealed inside each cookie.
- Roll into an even ball and place on one of the parchment-lined sheets. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. You should be able to fit all the balls onto one tray for this step (chilling the balls). Freeze the entire tray of cookie dough balls for at least 15 minutes.
- Once the balls have chilled, transfer half of the balls to the other lined baking sheet and space each cookie dough ball at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies just start to turn golden brown. Sprinkle immediately with flaky sea salt and pistachio crumbs, if desired. Allow cookies to cool for two minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a rack to cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container.