Caramelized Pistachio Brown Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wait until you try this incredible flavor combination: Caramelized Pistachio Brown Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookies are so rich with nutty brown butter and earthy pistachios that toast up as they caramelize for a sweet, slightly bitter burnt sugar coating. They have a wonderful salty and sweet balance with creamy white chocolate to round it all out. You could also use dark chocolate, but I do really like the sweet milky notes that white chocolate offers in the presence of all the richness and earthiness. These cookies are thick and chewy, perfect for serving with a cup of tea and sharing on your holiday cookie platter. If you love making cookies with brown butter, I recommend my most popular Chewy Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Brown Butter Pecan Cookies.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

• Rich brown butter cookies - these cookies have an intense, rich buttery flavor that is complex from the nutty and caramel-like flavors produced from browning butter. You really do taste brown butter here, so the effort is not lost in this recipe.
• Thick & chewy texture - this recipe makes thick cookies that are substantial to hold in all the mix-ins. They also stay chewy for days without drying out.
• Caramelized pistachios - first you will make candied pistachios to fold into the cookie dough. It is so easy and addictive that you may want to make a double batch for snacking on! All you do is cook pistachios with sugar over the stove until the sugar melts and turns to caramel. Sprinkle salt over it while still warm and then chop it up after it cools and hardens.
• White chocolate chips - I love to add creamy white chocolate which complements the toasty pistachios and brown butter so nicely.

INGREDIENTS FOR CARAMELIZED PISTACHIO BROWN BUTTER WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• Unsalted butter - you can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. If you choose salted butter, I recommend reducing the added salt by almost half, so you will use about a heaped ¼ teaspoon. Or, you can just leave the salt as is and they will be extra rich! You will brown the butter for this recipe. Browning butter is a technique common in French cooking called "beurre noisette". It translates to "hazelnut butter" since the butter actually takes on nutty flavors once it is browned. It adds incredible depth of flavor to these cookies.
• All purpose flour - regular unbleached all-purpose flour works just fine in this recipe to make cookies with a chewy texture.
• Brown sugar - this recipe calls for brown sugar and white sugar. Brown sugar which adds a hint of butterscotch flavor to complement the butter pistachios and brown butter, and it also helps to create chewy cookies. You can use light or dark brown, but I prefer light brown in this recipe so it doesn't overpower the other flavors.
• Granulated sugar - white sugar will caramelize to create intensely crisp and candy-like edges.

• Eggs - one large egg will bind this cookie dough.
• Milk - a little bit of milk replaces the moisture lost by browning the butter so the cookie dough is still soft and pliable instead of brittle.
• Pure vanilla extract - vanilla will enhance all cookies. I like this Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract.
• Pistachios - use raw pistachios since they will toast up as they caramelize when you cook them with the sugar.
• White chocolate chips - look for pure white chocolate with only cocoa butter fat added. Feel free to use dark chocolate or milk chocolate if you prefer.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• STEP 1). Brown the butter. Follow my steps to brown butter here.
• STEP 2). Cool the butter. Immediately pour the hot brown butter off into a clean bowl. You should be left with golden yellow liquid butter and lots of nutty brown flecks. Let it cool until for 20-30 minutes until it reaches room temperature. It does not need to be firm (it may still be liquid) but if the butter is hot, the cookie dough will be greasy.
• STEP 3). Mix butter and sugar. Once cooled, add brown sugar and vanilla and mix to combine.
• STEP 4). Mix in egg and milk. Add the egg and mix well until smooth, glossy and the mixture lightens in color by a shade. Then, mix in milk.
• STEP 5). Add dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly. Add this to the butter mixture and fold it in until mostly combined but there are still some streaks of flour visible.
• STEP 6). Fold in pistachios and chocolate. Add chopped caramelize pistachios praline and white chocolate chips and fold them in evenly.
• STEP 7). Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• STEP 8). Bake. Use a 1.35-oz cookie scoop to portion dough into 14 or 15 portions and roll into smooth balls. Place them onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 3 inches apart. Flatten slightly and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden on top, browned around the edges and soft in the middle.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS

• Let the brown butter cool. If the brown butter is too hot when you add the sugar and other ingredients, then it will not incorporate evenly the cookie dough will be greasy.
• Measure flour accurately. Too much flour can make these cookies more hard and crumbly instead of chewy. They will also crumble when you slice the dough if it is too dry. For the best results, weigh your flour using a kitchen scale.
• Use a light colored pan to make the caramelized pistachios. I use this stainless steel saucepan to make small batches of praline. It conducts heat quickly and evenly, and the light color allows you too see the color of the sugar as it turns to caramel so you don't burn it.
• Let the baked cookies cool on the baking sheet. The caramelized edges are soft and delicate while warm so let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring them to a rack to continue cooling.

RECIPE FAQ

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Video

Brown Butter Caramelized Pistachio White Chocolate Cookies

Christina Marsigliese, Food Scientist MSc.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Chill Time 29 minutes mins

Servings 15 cookies

Ingredients

  

Caramelized pistachios:

• ⅔ cup (90g) roasted pistachios (no shell)
• 4 tablespoon (50g) granulated sugar
• salt

Brown Butter Cookie Dough:

• 10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter
• 1 ½ cups (215g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup (145g) packed light brown sugar
• ⅓ cup (65g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup (85g) pure white chocolate chips

For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients.

Instructions

 

• Make the caramelized pistachios. Add pistachios to a saucepan or shallow frying pan. Sprinkle in sugar and cook over medium high heat stirring frequently until it smells fragrant nutty and the sugar melts and caramelizes. It will be dark brown. Turn it out onto a piece of parchment on a baking tray and immediately sprinkle with salt. Set it aside to cool and harden, then coarsely chop into pieces.
• Make the cookie dough. Brown the butter. Follow the instructions in this post here to learn how to brown butter. t's easy! Brown specks and a dense golden foam will form at the surface when it is nearly ready. Pour it out into a clean bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes. This whole process takes around 8-10 minutes. Immediately pour it into a large mixing bowl, then let it cool for 20-30 minutes until it reaches a temperature just warmer than room temperature. If you care to measure, the butter should read 34°C or 93°F on a digital thermometer. It should not be hot, but it should not be too cool or it will stiffen up when you mix in the other ingredients if it is cold in your kitchen.
• Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk well to blend evenly.
• Combine cooled brown butter with both sugars in a large bowl and mix gently to combine. It should look thick like wet sand. You can also mix it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Add the egg, milk and vanilla and mix it in until well incorporated and creamy-looking. Do not mix vigorously at this stage because if it is cold in your house, the butterfat will firm up and become stiff.
• Add flour mixture and fold it in or mix on low just until mostly combined, but before all of the flour is absorbed add the white chocolate chips and chopped caramelized pistachios and continue mixing until they are evenly distributed. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
• Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Use a 1.35-oz cookie scoop to portion dough into 14 or 15 portions and roll into smooth balls. Place them onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 3 inches apart. Flatten slightly and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden on top, browned around the edges and soft in the middle.
• Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.