Slice and bake pistachio shortbread cookies are buttery, crumbly, and packed with nutty pistachio flavor and get rolled in coarse sugar for a nice crunch on the outside while perfectly tender on the inside.
These cookies use a basic shortbread dough with slightly salty, nutty pistachios added in for both flavor and texture. Whether you’re a pistachio lover or a fan of shortbread, these cookies will quickly become a go-to recipe.
This simple dessert makes for the perfect afternoon snack or holiday cookie to gift or add to a cookie box alongside these Christmas cutout shortbread cookies, caramel apple cider cookies, biscoff cookies, and dark chocolate almond cookies!
Or, if you really love pistachio, you can go full-out on pistachio desserts with these baklava cookies, baklava cake, or baklava cheesecake bars.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Nutty and Buttery: A mixture of ground pistachios and chopped pistachios adds a rich flavor that pairs perfectly with the buttery shortbread.
Crunchy Sugar Coating: Rolling the dough in coarse sugar creates a satisfying, crisp outer layer and makes it look like they're sparkling!
Make-Ahead: Prepare the dough in advance, chill, and slice when you're ready to bake. The dough is also freezer-friendly and can be frozen for several months.
Perfect for Gifting: These pistachio cookies are sturdy and stay fresh for a week, making them a great option for holiday cookie boxes or gifting.
Ingredients
- Pistachios. Adds a rich, nutty flavor, crunchy texture, and light green color to the cookies. Shelled and roasted pistachios are best for this recipe. If you're using raw pistachios, you should toast them first.
- Unsalted butter. This is the main ingredient and flavor of shortbread, so if you want to use a good quality butter like Plugra or Kerrygold, go for it!
- Egg. Used as a wash to help the coarse sugar stick to the dough and create a golden finish.
- Coarse sugar. Adds a satisfying crunchy texture to the cookie’s exterior. This is optional, but one of my favorite parts of the shortbread cookies! Look for demerara or turbinado sugar.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Nut Options - Swap pistachios for other nuts like almonds or pecans for a different twist - or make these customizable slice-and-bake cookies instead!
- Add ½ cup dried cherries or dried cranberries for a sweet flavor addition.
- No Coarse Sugar? You can skip the sugar rolling step if you prefer a softer texture or don’t have coarse sugar on hand.
- Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour substitute for a gluten-free version of these shortbread cookies. We love Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour blend.
- Roll the dough to ½" thick and use your favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
- Rub lemon zest from 1 large lemon into the sugar before mixing it with the butter for a zingy pop! Or, use orange zest and dip them in chocolate for a chocolate orange cookie variation.
- Dip half of each cookie in melted dark chocolate or white chocolate.
- Turn them into chocolate sandwich cookies by adding a dollop of chocolate ganache in between the cookies!
- Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract to help bring out the pistachio flavor.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Very finely chop half of the pistachios, and roughly chop the other half.
Two: Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Three: Add the flour, salt and pistachios and mix until no dry pockets remain.
Four: Split the dough in half, form each into a log, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up.
Hot tip! Wrap the logs of dough in a kitchen towel to prevent a flat spot from forming.
Five: Once rock solid, brush the dough log all over with egg wash.
Six: Roll the log of dough in coarse sugar to coat it completely.
Seven: Slice each log into 12 pieces (discard the very ends of each log).
Eight: Add the shortbread cookies to a baking sheet and bake until lightly golden on the edges and bottom. Cool before enjoying.
Hot tip! If there is a large flat spot, scoot the cookies at the halfway mark during baking to round them up, then finish baking them.
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Expert Tips
- To avoid dry cookies, use a digital scale or fluff, scoop, and level your flour. Too much flour will make for a crumbly texture and be hard to work with.
- Chilling the dough for at least 4 hours ensures it will slice cleanly and hold its shape during baking. The logs of dough should be rock solid before slicing and baking.
- For clean cuts, use a sharp knife to slice the dough—press down firmly instead of sawing. If any pieces crumble, simply press them back into the dough.
Recipe FAQs
You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days before baking. Just make sure it’s tightly wrapped to prevent it from drying out.
If you’re using raw pistachios, toasting them before mixing them into the dough enhances their flavor. However, if you’re using roasted pistachios, they can be used as is.
Yes! Add up to ¾ cup total mix-ins to the dough such as nuts, dried fruit and seeds, or chocolate pieces.
This could be because too much flour was added, or the cutting process is not correct.
Use a thin, sharp knife, and push straight down quickly instead of sawing. If any pieces crumble off, just push them back into the dough.
The edges and bottoms will be slightly golden brown but the tops should still look rather pale.
Storage
Room Temperature: Store the pistachio shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Freezing: Freeze the cookie dough logs for up to 2 months. Slice and bake from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time.
What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
Did you make this recipe? Share it with us! Tag @thecozyplum on Instagram & Facebook and leave a star rating ⭐️ below!
📖Recipe
Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- Plastic wrap
- Large baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pistachios*
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg whisked for egg wash
- ½ cup coarse sugar optional, for rolling
Instructions
- Very finely chop ½ cup of the pistachios. You can either do this by hand or in a food processor or blender. You want them to be the consistency of coarse sand. Roughly chop the other half.1 cup chopped pistachios*
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.1 cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Add the flour, salt, and finely ground pistachios and mix until mostly combined. Add the larger chunks of pistachios and finish mixing the dough by hand until all flour is incorporated.2 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Divide the dough equally, then place each piece of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Form the dough into logs (~3” diameter), then wrap them tightly, roll them back and forth, and press the sides in so they’re flat.
- Roll the logs of dough up in a kitchen towel and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but overnight it best. They should be very hard.
- Note: the kitchen towel is optional, but helps prevent a very flat edge on the dough log.
- Before coating and slicing, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Whisk the egg, brush it all over the log, then roll the log in coarse sugar until it’s completely coated.1 large egg, ½ cup coarse sugar
- Slice the very ends off the logs and discard. Then, slice the dough into ½” slices and place them onto the cookie sheets about 1” apart. Each log should yield 12 cookies.
- Bake one pan at a time (keep the other pan in the fridge while the first bakes) in the center of the oven for 16-18 minutes until slightly golden on the edges, rotating the pan at the halfway mark.
- Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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