These Vegan Pistachio Cookies are a delicious, nutty twist on traditional cookies with just four simple ingredients. These gluten-free, dairy-free treats provide a perfect balance of sweetness and rich pistachio flavor, making them an excellent choice for health-conscious dessert lovers.
I made this recipe as part of my trials of minimalist, plant-based cookies, like I did for my Coconut Almond Cookies, Quinoa Cookies, and Sunflower Butter Cookies.
I love the natural flavors of nuts and the simplicity of wholesome ingredients. So these cookies show that you can create treats that are both delicious and plant-based. They’ve become a favorite in my household, proving that you don’t need a long list of ingredients to create something truly special and yummy.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pistachios – Use unsalted, raw pistachios for best flavor control. Roasted pistachios can be used for a deeper flavor, but reduce salt if they’re salted.
- Maple Syrup – Choose pure maple syrup. Alternatives include agave nectar or date syrup, though these may alter the flavor slightly.
- Melted Coconut Oil – Use refined coconut oil for a neutral flavor, or unrefined for a slight coconut taste. Vegan butter can be used as an alternative.
- Almond Extract – This enhances the nutty flavor. Vanilla extract can be used as an alternative for a different but complementary flavor profile.
How to Make Vegan Pistachio Cookies
These pistachio cookies are really easy to make with the full recipe further down, but if you like visual cues, you can use the pictures below that show key steps.
Combine the pistachio in a food processor.
Blend until it reaches a coarse flour consistency.
Add the other ingredients and combine the batter.
Scoop the sticky batter with a spoon.
Roll the batter into small balls.
Place the cookie dough balls on an oiled baking sheet, flatten them, and add a few crushed pistachio on the top.
Expert Tips
- Make sure the pistachio are ground into a powder. It’s ok if there a few larger pieces, but if the ground is too coarse, the dough won’t stick together nicely.
- A food processor might work as well but the ground won’t be as fine.
- The dough is very sticky and that’s normal You may have to wash hands and reoil your hands as you roll the cookie dough to make the process less messy.
- The cookies brown fast, remove them from the oven as soon as the sides are golden to avoid burning the nuts.
- The cookies are soft just after baking: do not touch them. They firm up on the tray at room temperature.
- For a more intense pistachio flavor, lightly toast the pistachios before grinding them. This also helps to remove excess moisture, resulting in a crisper cookie.
- If you prefer a chewier texture, try using brown rice syrup instead of maple syrup – it’s less sweet but creates a chewier result.
- For perfectly uniform cookies, use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the dough.
- Experiment with add-ins like vegan white chocolate chips or dried cranberries for interesting flavor variations.
More Plant-Based Cookie Recipes
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Vegan Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Pistachio - Unsalted
- ⅓ cup Maple Syrup
- 2 tablespoon Melted Coconut Oil
- ½ teaspoon Almond Extract - or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper lightly oiled with cooking oil. Set aside.
- Add the pistachios to a high-speed blender. Blend on medium-high speed, stop a few times, scrape down the sides of the jug, and repeat until it forms a fine ground with just a few larger pieces of nuts. The thinner, the better.
- Pour the ground pistachios into a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients.
- Stir with a silicone spatula until it forms a sticky cookie dough.
- Oil your hands generously because the dough is sticky. Grab a tablespoon of cookie dough, roll it into a ball, and release it on the baking sheet. Press on it to slightly flatten the ball and press in some crushed pistachio on top.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, placing the cookies a thumb apart from each other on the baking sheet as they slightly expand.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes at 350 °F (180 °C) until just golden brown on the sides.
- Let the cookies cool down for 30 minutes on the baking sheet at room temperature, then transfer them to a cooling rack. The cookies firm up as they cool down.
- Store in an airtight container up to 1 week in the fridge or freeze for later.
My cookies turned out fine but they were soft , I did the measurements right . Are they supposed to be soft or just like normal cookies ?
Yes, they are supposed to be soft and chewy
Delicious and so quick & easy! I used salted & roasted pistachios and followed everything else exactly. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
These are so easy to make and they are absolutely delicious! It was complicated not to eat another after the first two. I’m definitely going to repeat them for snacks to bring at the office.
Carine, this is the best recipe I’ve tried!
Thank you!!!
Thank you so much!
I will definitely try this!
Yummi, lecker !
Bitte, bitte auch mit Gramm Angaben, dass wäre so toll!
Viele Grüße,
Gabriel
Thank you for the recipe
Thanx
Can we use another oil instead of coconut as I am allergic.
She mentioned you could use vegan butter. I don’t know off hand if any have coconut oil in them but it would be worth looking at different brands. Good luck!
Sure, any low flavor oil will work well
Carine, this is the best recipe I’ve tried! SOOOOOOOO GOOD for vegan
Thank you!!!
Super Deliciosas recetas! Asombrosas! Muchas gracias por compartir!