Chocolate-Pistachio Cookies

128 Ratings
  • 5 18
  • 4 21
  • 3 51
  • 2 31
  • 1 7

Crisp pistachio cookies, sandwiched around a soft, chocolate filling, are dipped in bittersweet chocolate and garnished with a sprinkle of bright-green pistachios.

Martha Stewart Living, February 2005

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Recipe Summary

Yield:
Makes 15
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Make filling: Bring 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved; set aside.

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  • Put egg yolks in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk by hand until yolks are warm to the touch, about 2 minutes. Fit mixer with the whisk attachment. Mix yolks on medium speed; pour in sugar syrup. Raise speed to high; mix until mixture is cool and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; drizzle in melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes.

  • Make cookies: Put pistachio paste and rest of sugar in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Mix in the egg white, vanilla, and salt.

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a small (about 1/4 inch) plain round tip (such as Ateco #10). Pipe 1-inch rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing about 1 inch apart.

  • Bake cookies until firm and golden around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer on parchment to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

  • Place cookies, bottom sides up, on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Spread 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons chocolate filling on bottom of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Freeze 1 hour.

  • Make glaze: Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add shortening; stir until combined. Let cool, stirring, until mixture is lukewarm.

  • Using a chocolate fork or regular fork, hold 1 cookie at a time above bowl of chocolate glaze. Spoon glaze over cookie, letting excess drip back into bowl. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Garnish with slivered pistachios. Refrigerate until set, 5 minutes.

Cook's Notes

Cookies can be refrigerated in singlelayers in airtight containers up to 3 days. The yolks in the filling are not fully cooked; this recipe should not be prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children, the elderly, or anyone whose health is compromised.

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Reviews (20)

128 Ratings
  • 5 18
  • 4 21
  • 3 51
  • 2 31
  • 1 7
Martha Stewart Member
11/26/2016
These cookies did not turn out well at all except for the flavor. The filling was extremely liquidy and it did not make the amount of cookies promised. Although these cookies were tasty, I was disappointed in Martha Stewart and this recipe. The whole baking and preparation process took about three and 1/2 hours. So, either I did something totally wrong, or this is not a good recipe. I'm not sure how people got these to turn out well.
Martha Stewart Member
07/28/2012
It talkes a REAL effor doing these! But it was TOTALLY worthy! They turned out delicious and just like the picture. The biggest trouble is with the filling, of course. Well I used small egg yolks, afraid it was going to be too runny, and it was ok. I feel I could even have used big ones, as the recipe says. Just be quick handed and careful not to cook them =S
Martha Stewart Member
12/21/2011
As stated above : making these took about 2 hrs to prepare. My feet were killing me! So, the only thing I would critique on the writing of the recipe is this: the part where after you add the water/sugar syrup to the whipped egg yolks, you are supposed to remove the pan from heat (which it does not clearly state). I only understood to do so, because the next sentence reads that you should beat until 'cooled' and fluffy. Though I made only 10, they look very lovely and taste interesting! Not bad
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Martha Stewart Member
04/11/2011
This recipe was a lot of work and my cookies didn't look very nice although they tasted great. After hours of work I had a backache, a headache, messy kitchen and 15 cookies. My family laughed at me.
Martha Stewart Member
03/13/2011
I followed the recipe and macias123's advice, and they turned out perfect. I have never heard so many "WOW"s in response to a cookie before! I'm definitely making these again...
Martha Stewart Member
11/23/2010
The ingredient list and the directions are not clear. I agree with all commenters that it is time consuming and may not be worth my time. Too many times I have have begun to doubt the credibility of the recipes and how they are given to us. I expect better of MS and the staff. Mykele
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Martha Stewart Member
11/23/2010
also...Another suggestion for the filling is to use a simple fudge recipe or chilled frosting.
Martha Stewart Member
11/23/2010
I've made these cookies several times and have never had a problem. As for the filling these steps have always worked for me: Make sure to place the eggs over Fully Boiling water (not a simmer). Make sure the syrup is still hot when adding to the eggs. I keep the bowl over the water when adding the syrup for at least a minute while stirring. Make sure the mixer is set to High at all times! Then follow as directed.
Martha Stewart Member
11/22/2010
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! So far I have tried 6 (6!) different recipes from this site and each had issues. From measurements being completely off (not enough flour, not enough eggs, etc) to baking times being inaccurate, to the end result just being lousy. I'm no professional baker, but I don't seem to have these issues with any other recipes I have tried.
Martha Stewart Member
11/15/2010
I agree with all 3 writers.. I made these cookies and it was a disaster! The same problem, the filling did not taste good and was runny! I was very disappointed. Waste of money and time!
Martha Stewart Member
09/22/2010
I made these today with my niece as I'm looking for something gluten free for a party. I think the cookies were just delicious but I used unsalted pistachios. The filling wasn't good - it didn't set and was runny and wouldn't stick but once covered with chocolate they looked pretty good. Next time I'll stick them together with a light ganache.....
Martha Stewart Member
08/27/2010
As a professional baker I am always looking for something new to entice my customers. The picture of these little cookies looked delicious. Boy was I wrong! The other writer said hers were a disaster and she is right. The filling was runny and difficult to get to stay on a 1" cookie, it wanted to fall off. This is the third and last time I will refer to Martha for any baking recipes. None of them have ever been worth making again. Do they use a test kitchen??
Martha Stewart Member
12/06/2009
I just tried making these and what a disaster! The filling would not thicken even after overnight in the fridge and a few hours in the freezer. The cookies were too salty and had a strange chewy/stale texture. Definately not worth the effort. I ended up throwing out all the cookies and the filling. A waste of time and supplies.
Martha Stewart Member
01/04/2009
Unforgiving and not worth it. I wasted a whole day on these.
Martha Stewart Member
01/02/2009
They looked fancy and their texture (part soft filling, part chewy dough) was great. They are definitely something different and an eye-catcher. My husband and my brother loved them, but I didn't like the salty aftertaste (because of the salted pistachios you should use).
Martha Stewart Member
12/29/2008
These cookies were a huge hit! I found that if you refridgerate the cookie dough it is less runny and easier to pipe. My filling did get firm, too firm so I had to zap it in the mircrowave. Other then that perfect :P
Martha Stewart Member
12/22/2008
i made these yesterday and they did turn out well. but the process is time consuming and really messy. the filling does not get firm even after 90 mins and so making the cookie sandwiches was near impossible. but after they solidify a bit in the freezer, they look exactly like the picture when you pour chocolate over them.
Martha Stewart Member
12/19/2008
I made these the other day, and a few personal notes i found easy: I didnt have a "Pipe" set, so i put it into a zip-loc bag, and cut the bottom corner out. I also accidently bought Unsweetened chocolate for the "glaze", and just added sugar Syrup, to it. WORKED GREAT. THEY WERE A HIT. THANKS MARTHA
Martha Stewart Member
12/16/2008
I agree... it was very oily (from pureeing the nuts to a paste) and really, really hard to pipe. i pressed it onto the pan also.. tried to bake a few but really didn't like the cookie. So i used the filling and glaze for german butter cookies instead.
Martha Stewart Member
12/15/2008
My sister-in-law tried to make this over the weekend. It was very hard to pipe the dough so she decided to just press it onto a pan and bake it. The flavor was good with the chocolate, but it's too much of a hassle to make.
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