Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

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

These are dense, chocolatey little cookies, packed with nuts and a great blend of salty and sweet!

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

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Nutrition Information:
54 calories, 8 g carbs, 5 g sugars, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1 g protein, 1 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)
MyWW SmartPoints per (1 cookie) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Green: 2 SmartPoints/ Blue: 2 SmartPoints/ Purple: 2 SmartPoints
Weight Watchers Points Plus:
2 per cookies, 3 for 2 cookies(P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
adapted from Real Simple

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies