Sharing a quick and simple recipe today, inspired by some of my favorite things lately: cookies, more cookies, and beautiful pistachios!
... Well, and also a little bit by memories of a certain Turkish shop I used to frequent many years ago that had the most wonderful cookies (and Baklava) of all kinds -- mostly in flavors of almond and pistachio. Just seeing all the tiny cookies they had on display sent me into happy mode back in the day :). For whatever reason, my memory brought me back to those beautiful cookies the other day and I felt inspired to go and make these gluten-free and vegan pistachio encrusted little nuggets of deliciousness.
The result were these lovely cookies, soft and chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. And positively radiant due to the beautiful colors of the pistachios.
I also snuck in a little bit of almond extract into these cookies, which I find can really play up the pistachio flavor in many recipes. So don't skip this ingredient if you want a lot more depth and magic to your cookies!
Pistachio Cookies
Soft and chewy cookies coated with crunchy and flavorful pistachios. This recipe is gluten-free, vegan, refined sugar-free, and oil-free.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 9 mins
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 6 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Pistachio Coating:
- approx. 3 tablespoon raw pistachios, peeled
Cookies:
- 6 tbsp white rice flour
- 2 tbsp dark maple syrup
- 2 tbsp smooth and creamy natural cashew butter
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Briefly process the pistachios for the coating in your food processor to form little crushed pieces. Remove the chopped pistachios from the processor and place them in a shallow bowl. Set aside. (Don't worry if you have tiny bits or pistachio dust left behind in the food processor).
- Process all cookie ingredients in the food processor until the mixture begins to form a ball.* Remove this ball from the processor and shape into a ball of dough with your hands.
- Divide this mixture into 6 balls of dough. Roll each one first into a ball, then flatten with your fingers to form a little "hockey puck" shape. Roll one of these bits of dough in the crushed pistachios, first just running the sides of the cookie over the pistachios and then only the top part of the cookie -- you'll need to press the dough into the pistachios very lightly as you go to make the pistachio pieces stick (note: if you press too hard you, the shape of your cookie can become distorted). Place the crusted cookie on the prepared baking tray. Repeat with the remaining cookies.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for approx. 9 mins. Remove from the oven and place on a cooking rack to cool off a little. Enjoy!
Notes
*The texture of the dough can be different depending on the cashew butter used. For example sometimes you might get a batch that’s more “oily” other times one that’s more dry + brands vary, etc. The dough should be soft and pliable. But if the mixture feels too sticky at this point, add a bit more flour (1 teaspoon at a time) and process again to incorporate; if too dry, add a bit more maple syrup or cashew butter.
Keywords: Pistachio Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free)
Sheryl Melnichuk says
Hi I am not having much success with these recipes. I tried these cookies and my dough was so so dry I tried adding more nut butter but was not helping a whole lot. The recipes says 2tbls of nut butter creamy (nutty) is that meaning 4 tbls all together??
Sheryl
Audrey says
Hi Sheryl, it's 2tbsp total. With the creamy note I just meant the nut butter needs to be creamy and not solid / tough / thick (sometimes when the jar isn't mixed well, or the butter isn't fresh it can get a bit tough / solid, with the oils being separated at the top of the jar initially, etc.). I'm not sure why your dough didn't turn out... To help troubleshoot, here are some questions that might help narrow down what might have gone askew:
Did you change anything in the recipe ingredients (like for example using honey or dry sugar instead of maple syrup, etc.)? Did you measure using the same measuring spoons for all ingredients? Did you see the note at the bottom of the recipe on how to adjust the texture so the dough comes out right?
Michael Victoria Reese says
Could we sub brown rice flour for white? (I'm sorry; I'm sure you've covered all this in other posts.)
Audrey says
Yes, brown rice flour would work just fine here. I use white as a personal preference (it's milder flavored and easier on my tummy), but brown can be used as a 1-to-1 swap here.
SC says
Hi there, I want to try this but wanted to know if I can substitute the maple syrup with coconut sugar? What would the proportion be?
Audrey says
Hi SC, I'm not sure to be honest as I haven't tried that. If you give it a try let me know how it turns out. I wonder if the dough will turn dry and crumbly since you're taking out the liquids out of the recipe. Perhaps using another liquid sweetener (rice syrup, agave, etc.) might be a simpler substitution if you can't do maple.
Cassie Thuvan Tran says
I love how simple yet delicate and delicious these cookies look! Plus, pistachios are SUCH a fave of mine. They provide the best flavor and color to anything! <3
Audrey says
Agreed -- pistachios have the loveliest colors.
Jamie says
Hi Audrey! These look great. Would brown rice flour work? If used, would you suggest adjusting anything else in the recipe? TIA!
Audrey says
Hi Jamie, I think it'll work fine in the recipe as a 1-to-1 substitute. I like white rice because it has a slightly milder flavor, is all. But they are quite close overall.