These lemon-laced pistachio cookies are sensationally nutty with a melt-in-your-mouth quality that is hard to forget. Roll them in powdered sugar or glaze them; they're always delicious, keep well and are perfect for gift-giving.
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These pistachio butter cookies resemble Mexican wedding cookies, snowballs, or Russian tea cakes. They are cousins to the Greek Kourabiedes (which include an egg in the ingredients).
So take your pick of nationality, but do give them a try.
They're traditionally rolled in powdered sugar, but I tried a light lemon glaze, which was amazing. It helps the cookies stay moist as it covers them.
For a cocoa version, follow the recipe for chocolate snowball cookies, substituting the almonds for pistachios.
When the holidays come around, and we bake cookies to give as gifts, these pistachio snowballs are a must, along with the chocolate peppermint cookies, gingersnaps, and decorated soft sugar cookies.
About pistachios
These nuts are green-yellowish in color and have hard shells that must be opened and removed so the seed (what we know as pistachios) can be eaten.
They go wonderfully with lemon, vanilla, and white chocolate, among other ingredients.
Pistachios have a reputation for being expensive and hard to shell. Well, there's truth in that. How much do you love pistachios? I don't mind shelling them, though I often buy shelled ones.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
Be careful when chopping pistachios by hand. They are hard to pin down so if you start chopping energetically, you'll have pistachios flying everywhere.
Ingredient list
- Pistachios: I like to buy shelled pistachios which are more expensive. If you buy regular ones in their shells, plan for the time it'll take you to shell them.
- Lemon: I use the zest in the batter, which pairs wonderfully with the nuts. If you glaze them, you will also use some of the juice.
- Powdered sugar is a mandatory ingredient as it provides melt-in-your-mouth quality, which is a trademark of this recipe.
- Vanilla: I use paste, but regular pure extract works fine.
- Unsalted butter.
- All-purpose flour.
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Creaming: the butter should be soft, and you can use a spatula or an electric mixer to integrate it with the sugar.
- Flavoring: fresh lemon zest is added to the butter mixture.
- Make ahead: the dough or cookie balls can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to a month; always well covered in plastic wrap to prevent dryness. For more details, we have a post on how to freeze cookies.
Mixing by hand
When the flour is added, it will look like it's too much and will never come together into a cohesive dough. It will, just be patient. The same after you add the pistachios.
Pistachios
For this recipe, they need to be ground. If using the food processor, be careful not to turn them into a paste by over-processing them. They need to be finely ground but not oily. I use the processor, but you can chop them by hand if you have the patience.
Final dough
It's pliable and textured due to the pistachios but without dry spots. It needs to be refrigerated before being formed.
I use a small cookie scoop to measure the pieces, so they're as even as possible. But grabbing a piece of dough with a teaspoon works fine also, old school.
Take a portion and scoop it onto your hand. With both palms, make smooth balls. The dough shouldn't be sticky, and you should be able to form the rounds easily.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
The dough balls should be the size of a walnut. Don't make them larger, as they will take too long to bake and dry out.
Baking
Cookie sheet: line it with parchment paper and place cookie balls a little spaced to allow for expansion during baking. They don't grow much.
Depending on the material of your cookie sheets, you might get away with nothing, not even buttering it, as the dough itself has a nice amount of it. But I recommend lightly buttering the pan, if not using parchment paper, just in case.
They will crackle as they bake, which is fine.
Put powdered sugar in a shallow bowl or plate and roll the cookies.
Roll the cookies in the sugar while still warm until completely coated. If you see that the sugar starts to disappear, it means the cookies are still too hot and are melting the sugar. Wait a couple of minutes and try again.
The sugar will adhere more to some parts of the cookie and less to others. So they won't be evenly coated, and some will fall off as you handle them. It is what it is. Whatever amount of sugar's left clinging will make a difference in the flavor.
Powdered sugar glaze
This icing is one of my favorites because it never fails.
I use lemon juice because there's lemon zest in the batter, but you can use milk or cream.
This was my first time glazing these butter cookies, and I think I found a new favorite. A great variation from the classic powdered sugar.
Finishing touches
- Pistachios: top the glazed cookies with finely ground nuts (image above) before the glaze sets.
- Sprinkles: embrace the holiday spirit and add some sparkle with gold, silver or whatever sprinkle you like. I don't like biting into them much, but hey, your cookies your taste!
- Half of each: make both types of pistachio cookies, half rolled in powdered sugar and the other half glazed.
- Rolling before baking: you can roll each dough ball in finely ground pistachios which will act as a coating after they're baked. The cookies will also have a deeper nutty flavor.
Related recipes you might like:
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Pistachio Butter Cookies (glazed or with powdered sugar)
Ingredients
For the pistachio cookie dough:
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest, from about ½ lemon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup ground pistachios, lightly toasted
For the coating:
- ½ cup powdered sugar, for rolling
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, if glazing them
Instructions
For the cookies:
- In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter and 4 tablespoons powdered sugar until creamy and smooth.
- Add ½ teaspoon lemon zest and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extracta and beat well.
- Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, and then ¾ cup ground pistachios. Mix just until smooth. Don't overdo it. If mixing by hand with a rubber spatula, it will take a few minutes and feel as though it is too much flour and nuts. But it will all integrate eventually.
- Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180°C).
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Roll portions of cold dough between your palms to form balls the size of walnuts.
- Place 1-inch apart on the lined baking tray. At this point, they can be frozen (see Notes below).
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until they begin to brown around the edges and crack.
For the coating:
- First option: roll the cookies in extra powdered sugar while still warm, to coat completely.
- Second option: prepare the glaze by mixing ½ cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. Adjust the amount of juice so it's like thick honey. Drizzle over the cooled cookies and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
Notes
Katrina Waddell says
So excited to make this cookies for a cookie exchange. I may even add a bit of gold leaf. But I have a question...Can the pistachios be salted? Thank you!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Katrina! Yes you can, if like a slightly salted cookie. The thing with already salted nuts is that you can't regulate the amount of salt. If you want more control, use unsalted pistachios and add sea salt to your taste.
Addi says
A classic biscuit! lovelove love
MISS ADRIENNE CHILD says
Making my first batch now on a trial run for a family Christmas gathering. The batter tastes divine. Freezing the uncooked balls ahead of time will be the way to go closer to the day!
Lisa says
Hi! I just made these cookies and have refrigerated them. However, I just realized that the ingredients in the beginning of your article call for vanilla, but the actual recipe does not have that listed. Do you indeed use vanilla? I’m assuming so and that it just mistakenly got omitted from the recipe. How much vanilla do you use?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Lisa! It's only 1/4 teaspoon and I added it as optional because I don't always use it. Your cookies will be great without it. Thanks for the heads up. Happy baking.
elodiesucree says
Je vous remercie pour votre très savoureuse recette que j'ai faite et que vous pouvez voir sur mon blog biscuitspassion.canalblog.com, ils sont fabuleux, gros bisous à vous
Paula Montenegro says
Merci beaucoup!
David says
Like you said, these are "like" the almond butter balls (or pecan) but sooooo very different! Perfect for our annual cookie party!
Paula Montenegro says
You and I are pistachio lovers David!
David says
The orange blossom water is such a great addition, Paula! I made these for a work treat and they were a big hit!
Paula Montenegro says
Glad to hear that!
Cocoa and Lavender says
Paula - how brilliant to use pistachios! These are very much like my mother's (grandmother's actually) recipe for Christmas Nut Crescents. But pistachios and orange blossom water? OMG - how amazing they must be! I will be trying them this week for Christmas - and, just for fun, I need to tell you that my orange blossom water (from India) has a picture of Neuschwanstein Castle (in Germany) on the bottle! Cute, eh? ~ David