Salty & Sweet – Chocolate Cookies with Pistachios

If you put a variety pack of cookies in front of me, 95% of the time I would not choose an all chocolate cookie. This may be surprising, but I gave up on chocolate cookies after several attempts where I couldn’t even taste the chocolate.

chocolate pistachio cookies

I thought up this recipe one night while lying in bed, after one of my battles with black bean brownies. I was thinking about other ways to use black beans instead of flour and agave syrup instead of sugar. I was also thinking about a batch of Tastespotting photos I’d oogled recently that boasted salty and sweet desserts.

chocolate and pistachio

The recipe below is a little different from what I’d originally planned (no black beans and no agave… it’s probably for the best!), but it turned out exactly the way I was hoping it would. What’s the difference? For starters, I greatly prefer the taste of baked goods made with unsweetened cocoa instead of melted chocolate. It captures the taste of the chocolate more and it makes the final product less dense.

two cookies

These cookies are slightly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. The chocolate chips makes them unmistakably dark and chocolatey, and the pistachios add just a hint of saltiness. The instant coffee deepens the chocolate flavor without being particularly noticeable.

I had to take these to work the day after I made them because it quickly became clear that I couldn’t handle having them in the apartment. Whoops?

broken open

Salty & Sweet – Chocolate Cookies with Pistachios

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/8 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
2 ounces unsweetened cocoa (I used Ghirardelli)
1/8 (granulated) instant coffee
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (again, I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup pistachio kernels

Preheat oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, cocoa, instant coffee, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment (or using electric beaters if you don’t have a stand mixer), combine butter and sugars. When combined, add eggs one at a time. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, adding the milk at the halfway point. Stir in pistachios and chocolate chips. The mixture will resemble thick brownie batter.

Scoop batter using a tablespoon measuring spoon and, with the assistance of another spoon, drop rounded balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.