Hey, guys! I have SUCH a great recipe for you today and a little surprise!
With the holiday cookie season in full swing, I partnered with Diamond Nuts, along with 3 other bloggers, in a Christmas cookie swap and created this recipe just for you guys! If you’re not familiar with Diamond Nuts, they are a high-quality nut company based out of California and have been in business for over 100 years! But, what I love about their brand is how many varieties they carry! They have chopped pecans, slivered almonds, sliced almonds, whole pistachios, macadamia nuts and the list goes on! And all of this made me so excited to create a recipe with their product in mind! Sure, it may have taken me a few (ok, six) failed attempts to get the recipe just right, but all that failure paid of and now I get to share a pretty near-perfect dark chocolate shortbread cookie (with pistachios!!) with you!
They are super simple to put together (hello, six ingredients!) and are the perfect way to satisfy your craving for something rich and chocolatey (which, for me, happens at least once a day). And as for the surprise? Well, I finally ventured into the world of video!
I’ve had my TBC youtube channel forever (if anyone of you have clicked over to the link on the main page you know it’s been sitting empty for over a year now), and finally decided to put it to good use (huge shoutout to Chelsea at Chelsea’s Messy Apron for helping me take the plunge!). So go ahead and scroll ALL the way down to check out the clip and let me know what you think in the comments 🙂
What I seriously love about these cookies (aside from their chocolateyness) is how they are firm but still soft in the center and have all the buttery goodness of a classic shortbread cookie. The key to this is using room temp butter and then refrigerating the dough before rolling out! This makes for a lighter cookie (hard and dense isn’t really my jam) and also preserves the butter molecules that make everything so flakey and delicious!
Side note, aren’t pistachios just GORGEOUS! Aside from being tasty (who else’s favorite nut is the pistachio) I can never get over their beautiful natural green hue.
And, if you are interested, please click over to see the three other christmas recipes for the cookies pictured above! (I can promise they’re all delicious since I ate almost every. single. cookie sent to me myself 🙂 )
Show Me The Yummy: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chelsea’s Messy Apron: Oatmeal Pecan Cookies
Chez CateyLou: Pistachio Wreath Cookies
- 1⅕ cubes of room temperature butter (I like to set mine out the night before)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1¼ cups flour
- ¼ cup special dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼-1/2 cup chopped pistachios (according to preference)
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the room temp butter and powdered sugar until light yellow in color and fluffy.
- Combine the cocoa and flour in a small bowl then slowly combine with the butter mixture while continuously mixing.
- Add in the vanilla and the pistachios and knead until the dough is fully combined and forms a ball (be careful not to over mix)
- Cover the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes.
- Once chilled, roll the dough into a sheet ¼ inch thick then use a cookie cutter to cut out your preferred shape (i used a square).
- Place the cut cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer to chill for about 15 minutes (this helps the cookies maintain their shape).
- Once chilled for the second time, remove and place in the oven to bake for about 8-10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before eating!
