Pistachio Biscuits are sweet, soft and delicious. With simple ingredients and easy instructions these cookies come together quickly and easily! Soft and melting in your mouth pistachio butter cookies are the perfect festive treat or you can make them all year round.
Recipes like my Smarties Cookies, Malteser Biscuits and Nutella Biscuits are all vanilla cookies with sweet additions of yum!
My Pistachio Spread and Rocky Road Chocolate highlight other great ways to use these delightful nuts.
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🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:
- Eggless cookie recipe: we only need sugar, flour, butter and vanilla to bring the cookie dough together.
- Italian pistachio cookies: are super popular and a delicate cookie that melts in your mouth. We take that idea back to basics with easy steps and techniques to cut the fuss and hard work out of the recipe.
- No baking soda, no brown sugar, we keep the recipe very simple!
- No milk needed: which means the rest of the ingredients are long term and unlikely to perish so you can grab from the pantry, not the shop as needed.
Tasty Tip 1: This is a fuss free recipe that can be whipped up in a hurry. Keep it in mind for those times when someone 'drops in' 👍😉🥰! You can also have a read of my substitutions and variations in case you don't always have pistachios on hand, I give you some more options to use.
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Pistachio nuts: I purchase whole ones and then transfer them to a glass jug and use kitchen scissors to chop them up. You can do the same also purchase the pre chopped pistachio nuts.
- Butter: I recommend using regular unsalted butter. You will find it easiest to work with if you chop it into smaller pieces/cubes. This means that when you go to beat the butter, the beaters will work across the pieces as opposed to one big block of butter.
- Vanilla Extract: you can use the cheaper alternative known as vanilla essence if you want. For a basic recipe like this, there is minimal difference. Plus that one is a tad more budget friendly 😉👍.
- Icing Sugar: also known as confectioner's sugar, this a soft powdered form of sugar. It is popular to use to dust and decorate cakes and biscuits and brings a lovely sweet taste to the cookies.
- Plain Four: we don't need to use self raising flour or baking powder in this recipe. We keep it really very simple. You will get better results if you sift the flour (and the icing sugar).
Tasty Tip 2: I use a colander to sift the icing sugar and flour into the bowl as I go. You might find this an easier alternative to a hand held squeaky sifter! I also chop the butter into cubes as it is easier to cream then is you used a stick of butter whole (un chopped).
🍳 Instructions
Here at the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by creaming the butter in a large bowl. You will see what I have been saying about chopping the butter into small cubes in the 1st photo.
- Cream butter (Photo 1)
- Add vanilla extract (Photo 2)
- Add icing sugar (Photo 3)
- Beat till combined (Photo 4)
👩🍳 How to Make Pistachio Biscuits
To make the biscuits, start by creaming the butter with electric beaters. It should turn pale and creamy. Then add the vanilla and gradually sift in the icing sugar. Next add in the sifted flour and continue to mix until the cookie dough has a consistent texture.
- Add flour to the butter sugar mixture (Photo 5)
- Beat to combine (Photo 6)
- Portion onto tray (Photo 7)
- Push to flatten (Photo 8)
As you can see from the photos above, a mini cookie scoop will help you to get uniform sized cookies as well as keeping your hands reasonably clean from the wet biscuit mixture.
Once the dome shapes have been pushed out of the cookie scoop you can then use 2 finger tips to slightly press down to flatten the biscuits. This will also create a space for you to use to decorate the top of the cookies with the crushed nuts.
- Add the chopped pistachio nuts to the top of each biscuit (Photo 9)
If you sprinkle the chopped pistachio pieces on top of the wet biscuits, you can then gently press down as this will be what helps the nuts to stick to the top of the dough as they bake. From the step above you then place the baking trays into the oven (middle and lower shelves) and allow them to bake for 12 to 15 mins.
- Oven bake for 12 to 15 mins (Photo 10)
Keep an eye on the colour of the biscuits and when the edges start to turn a light golden brown. Use oven mits to remove the trays and initially rest the whole tray on the wire cooling rack. This will give the biscuits a chance to cool slightly.
Once cooled (3-4 mins) you can use a silicon flexible turner, slide it gently under the biscuits, lift them off the silicon mat and transfer them to the wire rack to continue to cool (whilst you smell them and drool 😛🥰😁😂 haha!!).
🍽 Serving Suggestions
These delightful biscuits go down a treat with a cup of tea or coffee! They don't need a lot to accompany them and tick the 'sweet tooth craving' moment with ease.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
Store the biscuits in a sealed air tight container for up to week. They will remain fresh and firm.
They are not suitable to be frozen and do not need to be reheated.
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- You can add some of the chopped nuts into the biscuit dough if you wish.
- Dusting the cooked biscuits (once cooled) with icing sugar bring an extra level of decadence if you want to take that step.
- Drizzle some melted dark chocolate over the top of the biscuits if you want to make them look all fancy like 😍
- If you want to make these spontaneously and don't' have pistachios on hand and don't want to go out for 'one ingredient' you can substitute with another nut like macadamia or smarties for pops of colour! 😉
- Add some chocolate chips to the biscuit dough if you want a chocolate and nut combo.
- For a gluten free version of the recipe use gluten free flour.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- Grab the butter out of the fridge as a starting point to the recipe as it will be softer when you come to use it 👍.
- Also chop it with a knife and chopping board into smaller pieces so that when using it, it is easier to work with (as opposed to a huge chunk of butter).
- Ensure that the oven is preheated as this will allow you to follow the cook time specified in the recipe card.
- A food processor is an alternative to a jug with kitchen scissors to chop the nuts.
- You can use baking paper if you want to. My preference is silicon baking mats as I think they work better for some baked goods, but either will be fine (you do you 🥰❤😉).
- Let the cookies cool slightly once removed from the oven before transferring them onto the wire rack. If you try and remove them too soon they will be too hot and you can risk breaking them (oh no!!!! 😭).
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use pistachios in baking?
Yes, pistachios are a great ingredient to use in baking. Suitable for both baked and non baked recipes, you will often find them in cookies, cakes and rocky road.
How do you prepare pistachios for baking?
Add the whole pistachio nuts to a glass jug and use kitchen scissors to roughly chop them. This will allow you to use those bits and pieces to top the biscuits with. It is not necessary to remove the skins, although you can if you want the biscuits to have more green pops of colour than green and purple.
Should you toast pistachios before baking?
For this recipe is is not necessary to toast the pistachios before baking. They will warm and toast nicely during the cook time for the biscuits.
😍 More Easy Biscuit Recipes
If you love getting your bake on (woot woot, right 😉), I think you might also like to check out the following recipes:
- Mars Bar Cookies
- Snickers Cookies
- Anzac Biscuits
- Cornflake Biscuits
- Milky Way Biscuits
- Air Fryer Biscuits
You can also find all of my cookies recipes in the one spot to enjoy at your leisure. It is time to get a little nutty my friend 😂!
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Pistachio Biscuits
Equipment
- 1 Glass jug to hold the whole nuts
- 1 Kitchen scissors to roughly chop the pistachio nuts
- 1 Electric beaters to cream and combine the mixture
- 1 Large mixing bowl to combine the biscuit dough, or use bowl of stand mixer
- 1 Mini Cookie Scoop to portion the biscuit dough
- 2 Baking Trays
- 2 Silicon Baking Mats or baking paper/parchment paper
- 1 Wire Rack to cool the cooked biscuits
- 1 Silicon flat utensil to slide under biscuits and transfer from silicon mat to cooling rack
Ingredients
- 250 grams/2 sticks butter chopped into small pieces, Note 1
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Note 2
- 2 cups plain flour sifted
- 1 cup icing sugar sifted, Note 3
- ½ cup pistachio nuts roughly chopped, Note 4
Instructions
- Preheat oven: to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Prepare trays: line 2 baking trays with silicon baking mats.
- Cream butter: add butter to a large mixing bowl. Use electric beaters to beat till soft and creamy. Add vanilla extract and beat till combined.
- Add sugar: add sifted icing sugar and continue to use beaters to mix in, then add sifted flour and beat till combined.
- Biscuit dough: use a spatula or your hands, to knead the mixture till soft and firm.
- Portion: use a mini cookie scoop to portion the biscuit mixture across the baking trays, with 12 to 15 biscuits per tray. Use 2 finger tips to push the cookies down slightly so they flatten and then add a ½ tablespoon (ish) of the chopped pistachios to the top of each cookie. Press these gently and they will stick as they cook.
- Bake: place the baking trays into the oven for 12 to 15 mins.
- Remove and cool: allow to cool slightly, then use an oven mit and flat utenstil to transfer cookies onto wire rack to cool. Store in an air tight container.
Notes
- Note 1 - Butter: chopping the butter into smaller pieces means that it will be easier to work with. The alternative is the beaters being stuck into 1 large block of butter. Everywhere from Walmart to Safeway, Tesco, Aldi, Coles and Woolies will sell this. In Australia a standard block is 250 grams, in the USA and Canada you will be able to use 2 x sticks of butter (which is 226.6grams, this small different won't matter, so if you are a USA or Canadian reader be confident that 2 x standard sticks of butter will be fine to use, ie not 2 sticks plus a little bit more).
- Note 2 - Vanilla extract: you can use the cheaper vanilla extract without a second thought.
- Note 3 Icing sugar: this is soft powdered sugar, also known as confectioner's sugar. It is not granulated like white or caster sugar.
- Note 4 - Pistachio nuts: there is no hard and fast rule for how many chopped pistachio nuts need to go on top of each biscuit. They can be pressed down gently which means that they will stick to the biscuits as they cook. They will spread out also so it is fine to put them close together when decorating before baking.
Deb says
We will make these as soon as I get the ingredients they sound so easy thanks.
Adrianne says
Thanks Deb! I appreciate your feedback!