Soft, chewy cookies flavored with warm espresso, nutty pistachio and
sweet chocolate. You cannot miss these!
inspiration
You guys know I love a cookie. I spent most of lockdown creating (in my opinion) the best chocolate chip cookie. It’s been on my list to make another one for a while and I went through a lot of add-in ideas before landing on pistachios and espresso powder. The pale green of pistachios is so pretty, and a tin of espresso powder has been languishing in my cupboard, just waiting to be used. Plus, all the flavors are so warm and cozy, perfect for the end of winter. “Espresso pistachio chocolate chunk cookies” may be a mouthful to say, but you’re going to love them!
why i love this recipe
These are my favorite cookie recipe I’ve made so far, and I make good cookies, so I’m not saying that lightly.
There are so many reasons to love this recipe. They’re bakery-style, so they’re big—each one is 1/3 cup of dough. They’re also a pretty play in contrasts in looks as well as texture: crunchy green nuts, gorgeous glossy pools of melted chocolate, and white flaky salt play well with the espresso powder, which prevents them from being pale. (Pale chocolate chip cookies are a red flag.) They’re so pretty you almost won’t want to eat them, but then the smell will hit you and you’ll get over it. That’s another thing—your house will smell like a mix between a bakery and a coffee shop.
details
I think using multiple bowls and a mixer for drop cookies is overkill. All you need here is one mixing bowl, a wooden spoon or spatula, and some kind of pan to brown the butter in. Browning butter seems intimidating to a lot of people, but it’s not complicated at all! The main thing is watching it very closely—once the browning starts it goes very quickly and even a few seconds too long on the stove can ruin it.
Here’s another important tip: don’t skip the maple extract. It adds warmth and complexity and somehow makes cookies taste more intensely like themselves.
Chilling the dough is also super important. Because we start off with melted browned butter, we have to give the dough time to cool down or the cookies will spread too much.
notes
pistachios: roasted and salted, unshelled preferably, unless you feel like spending a long time shelling nuts. You don’t need a ton, either–I used these.
maple extract: always add to chocolate chip/chunk cookies. It’s what sets them apart from the others. Ti’s worth it to find it.
chocolate: use bars. I used sweet german and semi sweet, but if you’re picking one, go with sweet. It’ll balance out the espresso better than only using semi sweet. You can use chips and they’ll still be good, but you won’t get those pools of melted chocolate.
flaky salt: not regular, not sea. The label should say “finishing” or “flaky” salt.
leftovers: cover tightly and store on counter for about 4 days. No need to refrigerate. While they’re very good cool, I recommend zapping them in the microwave for 20 ish seconds.
I hope you love this recipe for espresso pistachio chocolate chunk cookies! Here are a few other awesome cookie recipes: chocolate chip, butterscotch white chocolate macademia, and lazy sugar cookies.
espresso pistachio chocolate chunk cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ sticks salted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp maple extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 ¼ cups chocolate chopped
- 1/3 cup pistachios shelled and chopped
- splash of milk if needed
- flaky salt for garnishing
Instructions
- Brown the butter. Heat it in a small pan over medium heat. Don’t walk away! It will bubble and foam up a bit, and then the bits on the bottom will start to turn brown. Stir it every so often to keep it from burning. Once the bits on the bottom are a nice amber-ish color, take the pan off the heat and pour the butter into a large mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the butter, sugars, vanilla, and maple extract until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Add half of the flour, all the baking soda, espresso powder, and kosher salt. Mix, then add the rest of the flour. You will think there is too much flour. There isn’t. Keep mixing. Once the flour is incorporated, mix in the chocolate and pistachios. Check the dough–it shouldn't feel wet, but it shouldn't feel dry, either. If it seems a little dry, add a splash of milk until it feels right.
- Cover and chill for one hour. Don’t skip this step!
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop dough into 1/3 cup mounds and place onto an ungreased baking sheet. Be sure to leave space between the cookies—these are big, so I only do 4-5 per baking sheet. Bake for 15-16 minutes or until starting to turn darker around the edges. Remove from oven, sprinkle generously with sea salt, and cool on baking sheet for ten minutes before moving them to a wire rack. Serve warm!