Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
There was a perfect storm of reasons for me to make these Chocolate Pistachio Cookies. First of all, I finally got a real, live KitchenAid stand mixer after coveting one ever since I started seriously cooking. If you want to know how excited I am about it, please refer to the exceptionally creepy selfie* phone photo I took posing with my new mixer below. The look on my face is not unlike the star of the “overly attached girlfriend” meme that has been circulating the internet for a few years now. I get creepy about my small kitchen appliances.
The second reason is that my boyfriend was going on a guys’ weekend cabin trip with his friends and two of his favorite flavors are chocolate and pistachio. I thought I’d be an extra awesome girlfriend and make him and his friends cookies for their trip so I started hunting for a recipe with both flavors represented. It turns out I didn’t get a chance to make them in time and their trip was cancelled due to weather anyway, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Maybe?
Anyway, I also love chocolate and pistachios and any cookie that combines salty and sweet is right up my alley. These are dense, chocolatey little cookies, packed with nuts, and they’re a Weight Watchers bargain at just 2 myWW Green, Blue or Purple SmartPoints each. To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here! This recipe can be easily halved if you only want to make 30 cookies, or you can freeze half of the dough for a later date. If you’re craving chocolate, two of these thick little cookies will hit the spot.
*Overly Attached KitchenAid Mixer Fan
Chocolate Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup shelled salted pistachio nuts
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir together to combine and set aside.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the butter, yogurt and brown sugar. Use your mixer on medium-high speed to beat ingredients for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and combined. Add egg yolks and vanilla and continue to beat until those are mixed in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the reserved flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Turn off mixer and fold pistachio nuts into cookie dough (I used my hands to do this because the dough is thick and I found it easier).
- Divide the dough into two equal halves. Place each half on a separate piece of parchment paper and form the dough into a log shape, about 2” thick in diameter. Roll each log up tightly in the parchment paper and refrigerate them for a minimum of two hours (though you may chill them for up to 2-3 days if need be).
- When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and use a serrated knife to slice each log into 30 equal rounds. Place the rounds an inch apart on the baking sheets and sprinkle them with the white sugar.
- Bake the cookies (in batches if need be) for 11-13 minutes until edges are set. Once cookies are cool enough to move, transfer them to a wire rack for cooling.
Notes
2 per cookies, 3 for 2 cookies(P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) adapted from Real Simple
These look awesome. Great oic of you and your mixer.
Danielle
I am sitting here with a big smile on my face. I just happened to check your blog to find out you had been given a KitchenAid mixer. My grown children and their spouses surprised me with the exact one you are pictured with for my birthday on April 14th. So funny. The cookies look awesome! I will definitely be trying them. Enjoy your new mixer. I know I am!
You are seriously adorable and I can’t wait to try the cookies. 1.5 points plus each?! Yes!!
I’ve never seen ‘white whole wheat flour’ is there a difference?
I FLOVE my KitchenAid standmixer! You know you’re a true addict when you use ALL of the attachments (use the meat grinder to make salsa and use the slicer/shredder for easy veggie lasagna!). Congrats!
I couldn’t live without my kitchen-aid! My Mom bought me one 5 years ago and I use it every.single.week! So happy for you!
hahah I still don’t have a kitchen-aid mixer! I have a feeling when I get one, Ill have that same excitement on my face! 🙂 These sound awesome, Im lovin on pistachios lately! Congrats on your mixer!!
If you freezer half of the dough, would you bake from frozen? for how long? or thaw first?
I made these this week and they are delicious! I chopped the pistachios to make them a bit more manageable, and I didn’t get 60 cookies from mine, but they are chocolaty and delicious! Thanks for a cookie recipe the whole family loves!
These turned put amazing. Love the texture and the semi-sweet taste. Perfect cookies!! My new favorite.
Have you ever tried to do these with orange instead of pistachios?
I am not a big fan of them but I happen to love the combination of orange and chocolate. I was trying to find a healthy recipe but I could not find any. I was thinking maybe adding orange zest with the wet ingredients in this one might work. Maybe?
The fact that we are trying to lose some weight while still enjoying our sweets prompted me to make these as soon as I discovered the recipe.
This recipe seems like the ideal way to have breakfast for dinner.