Quick and Easy Italian Pistachio Cookies

The easiest and most delicious Italian Pistachio Cookies ever! Soft and a little fudgy in the center, with crunchy pistachios on the outside, these cookies are ready in under 30 minutes. Make sure to double the recipe because these babies disappear FAST!

 Updated: December 2017

I haven’t always been a fan of pistachios. In fact you could say that I used to hate them, which would be much closer to the truth. But now? I can’t get enough of them. So what changed? One fine summer morning (summer in the southern hemisphere) six years ago (almost to the day), I was introduced to a little cookie that blew me away with first impressions. And changed my mind. The meeting was far too brief for my liking, and I never got its name, but the memory of it lingered. Eventually I will return to that meeting place and reacquaint myself with that cookie many times in the following years. And then I moved away and I never heard from it again. And that’s when I decided I will take matters into my own hands and clone it in my kitchen. So I did. The name had always eluded me but that doesn’t really matter. Lets just call these Italian Pistachio Cookies, because something this alluring has got to be European right? All kidding aside, they actually are Italian cookies, as you may find them named elsewhere on the Internet.

(PIN IT FOR LATER)

It was February 2009. My aunt wanted to show me Little Italy in Haberfield, Sydney, where she was going to get herself some Olives and few other deli items. So I went along. She took me to a little Italian bakery (the name of which I cannot remember unfortunately!) along Ramsay street, where I found all kinds of colourful and positively delicious looking Italian sweet treats. I just wanted to get a Rum Baba, but my aunt also got me some Pistachio cookies and Cannolis! And then we went to a place called Pasticceria Papa and got a big piece of their famous Ricotta cheesecake!

If those exotic sounding words haven’t already convinced you, let me say it again. Those were little pieces of heaven in my mouth. Those cannolis are still the best I’ve ever had, the Rum Baba tasted amazing, and the cheesecake was the creamiest Ricotta cheesecake I’ve had so far. But the star was undoubtedly (and surprisingly) those soft, slightly fudgy / chewy Italian Pistachio cookies! They had lovely, crunchy pistachios on the outside and a soft center. I could have eaten them all day.

As long as I was living in Sydney, I was able to catch a bus ride to Little Italy and get some of those cookies. But when I moved North along the coastline a couple of years later, I had to find a way to recreate them. I developed the recipe over several years and tried numerous batches before I got something that was very close to what I had first had in Sydney. And it’s so easy! You only need 4 ingredients: Pistachios, Almonds, Sugar and Egg whites (and no flour and no butter!). It takes less than 30 minutes from start to end. I hope you like it just as much as I do! 🙂

The trick to baking these perfect Italian Pistachio Cookies, is the baking time! You only want to bake these cookies until the bottom of the cookie is just lightly browned. You don’t want the top of the cookie to brown too much (only the edges!) because then these aren’t going to be too soft in the middle.

The baking time depends on the shape and size of the cookies. If you make cookies that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, then they will need about 15 – 17 minutes in the oven. If you make cookies that are about 1 inch in diameter, they only require 10 – 12 minutes.

I like to make crescent shaped cookies as well! When I make these Italian Pistachio Cookies in a crescent shape, I first make a 1 1/2 inch cookie ball and then shape into a crescent shape. These will be ready after baking for about 12 minutes. Because of the shape of these cookies, they take a shorter time to bake than their “ball” counterpart. For this recipe, I made 1 inch round cookies and crescent cookies made with 1 1/2 inch rounds. So that the baking time is the same for both.

If you love Pistachios this is the cookie for you. However, even if you’r not a fan, you should still try them! 🙂 Because these cookies are what turned me to the green side! Besides they are so easy to make, why not give them a try? Soft in the center, a little fudgy, not too sweet and dairy- and gluten-free!

I always make a double batch, because trust me, they are not going to last very long! So my advice is, make a double batch secretly, and then pretend like you only made one. You won’t be sorry! 🙂 As long as no one discovers your secret stash at least. If they do, you don’t know me and you never read this.

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5 from 10 votes

Italian Pistachio Cookies

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Total Time 22 minutes

Serves 26 Cookies

Prep: 7 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

Print Rate

Ingredients:

• ▢ 8 oz / 226 g + another 1.7 oz / 75 g raw pistachios
• ▢ 4.8 oz / 135 g sugar
• ▢ 4.8 oz / 135 g blanched sliced almonds
• ▢ 2.6 oz / 74-75 g egg whites (about 2 egg whites, but measure out to make sure)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp vanilla optional
• ▢ Confectioner's sugar to dust on top optional

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 165°C / 325°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• In a food processor, combine the first measure of pistachios, almonds and the sugar. Process until the nuts are ground (with no large chunks left). Transfer the ground nuts and sugar into a clean dry bowl.
• Mix in the measured egg whites (and vanilla if using, this is optional) with the ground nuts and sugar, and mix with a wooden spoon until you get a slightly sticky ball of dough. You will need to mix well to make sure the dough comes together. If needed, add extra egg whites (1 tsp at a time).
• Chop the extra 75 g of pistachios into smaller, coarse pieces and set aside.
• Round cookies - Using a cookie scoop or wet hands, portion out the cookie dough to make round cookies (with a diameter of about 1 inch), and roll each one in the coarsely chopped pistachio nuts. Place these cookies on a prepared cookie baking tray and flatten them slightly.
• Crescent cookies - Using a cookie scoop or wet hands, portion out the cookie dough (with a diameter of 1.5 inches) to make the crescent cookies. Roll this dough ball into slender cylindrical shape, and then shape it again into a crescent. Dip the top of the cookie in the coarsely chopped pistachio nuts. Place these cookies on a prepared cookie baking tray, nut side up.
• Bake them in the preheated oven for about 10 - 12 minutes, until they just start to turn brown at the edges. 
• Remove from the oven and let them cool down completely. The cookies will be soft when warm, so they must be cooled down before being moved. Dust them with some icing sugar / confectioner's sugar (optional).
• This recipe makes 23 - 26 cookies, and you can keep them in an airtight container for a few days.

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