With two types of chocolate, butter, pistachios and jam as the main ingredients, you know these Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies are destined to bake into stunning, melt-in-your-mouth, tasty treats!
Pistachios
Pistachios always remind me of Tunisia. I lived there for a year and have vivid taste memories of their amazing pistachio desserts! I spent many moments in patisseries in Tunis just staring into glass cases admiring the many beautiful, ornate, and very green pistachio sweets!
These Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies are coated in chopped pistachios and have the intense/amazing pistachio flavor I was hoping for! You can simply chop raw pistachios, but I recommend blanching them and removing the skins before chopping them. Blanching them takes less than a minute.
Unfortunately, peeling pistachios is a bit tedious since you’ll need to peel each one individually. Recruit someone to help or try to distract yourself with the beauty of each peeled pistachio! It’s so worth the effort when you see the bright green color blanching and peeling gives them! The bright green pistachios are so pretty in contrast with the chocolate!
Whether you blanch them or not, it’s also up to you how finely you decide to chop them. I liked them a little chunkier, but pistachios also look beautiful when they’re finely chopped!
Easy to Make
These scrumptious cookies are easy and fun to make. Just cream the butter and add the sugar, vanilla and egg yolk. Mix in the dry ingredients and your dough is ready to roll (into balls!) The dough is pretty firm so, unlike most shortbread recipes, it doesn’t require any chilling.
Once your dough is mixed together, use about 1 tablespoon to form each ball. Roll the balls well between your hands til they’re nice and smooth. Use your thumbprint or the back of a rounded teaspoon measuring spoon to make indentations. If you use a teaspoon, dip it into flour and give it a shake to remove the excess. This should keep the teaspoon from sticking to the dough.
HOW TO DECORATE THUMBPRINT COOKIES?
And now-the fun part! Once you have indentations in the balls, you can choose how to decorate them.
Here are some suggestions:
- Bake the cookies plain as chocolate shortbread.
- Fill some with jam for classic thumbprints.
- Coat some or all with pistachios.
- Fill some with chocolate after baking.
About the Filling
Indent the balls before going into the oven and again when they come out of the oven since they puff up a little when baking. Fill them with either jam or chocolate.
For the jam: I used apricot jam, but strawberry or raspberry would be tasty too! Add the jam either before baking them or right after they come out of the oven.
For the chocolate: Fill the indentations with mini or regular sized chocolate chips as soon as you take them out of the oven. Semi-sweet or dark chocolate both work. Give them a few minutes to melt before giving them a quick stir to make sure that the chips have melted.
These Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies are what baking is all about. They’re fun, creative and easy to make and give you a beautiful, delectable treat to enjoy and share!
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this recipe! For more delicious cookie recipes, check out my:
- Cranberry Raisin Pistachio Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 34 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make these easy, buttery, no-chill Chocolate Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies for the best thumbprint cookies! Fill them with chocolate or your favorite jam!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature )
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg (divided)
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup pistachios (raw, blanched, and finely chopped)
- chocolate chips (mini or regular sized, semi-sweet or dark )
- jam (any flavor )
Instructions
FOR THE PISTACHIOS
- Shell the pistachios and blanch them in a pan of boiling water for 30-40 seconds. Remove from heat and transfer pistachios to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Rub the skins of the pistachios one by one between your fingers to remove the skins. Place skinless pistachios on paper towels to dry. Once all skins have been removed, lightly blot the pistachios with paper towels to dry then finely chop them.
FOR THE COOKIES
- Preheat oven to 350 F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sifted cocoa powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk and blend just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the dry ingredients and blend until just combined.
- Form dough into balls, using about 1 tablespoon of dough per ball. Roll the balls between your hands an to make them smooth and place them on the baking sheet.
- For the pistachio-coated cookies, dip the balls in the egg white and then roll each ball around in the pistachios. Place the balls back on the cookie sheet.
- Press your thumb or the bottom of a round teaspoon measuring spoon into each ball to create an indentations in the center. Dip the teaspoon (if using) in flour before using to prevent sticking. Be careful not to press to hard or deep that the dough cracks.
- Cookies can be filled with jam before or after baking. Fill them with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam each. Bake 12-14 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. If using chocolate chips, add them to the centers immediately when you remove the cookies from the oven. Add enough to fill each indentation. Allow them a few minutes to melt and then give the chocolate a stir using a small spoon. If you did not add jam before baking and wish to fill some cookies with jam, add it immediately upon removing them from the oven.
Notes
Blanching and peeling the pistachios makes them bright green and gorgeous, but this step can be skipped.
