Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

By Mike Johnson ⁠— February 23, 2023 (Updated January 14, 2025) — 24 Comments

4.92 from 12 votes

These Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies are the perfect balance of crispy, chewy, and soft, with melty pools of chocolate and chopped pistachios in every bite.

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Tray of Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies next to a bowl of pistachios and a bowl of flaky salt

I’ve thrown quite a few cookie recipes out there, and I've even written two cookbooks, both of which contained cookie chapters. So you can trust me when I say I know a thing or two about cookies and I guarantee that this salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookie recipe is about to become one of your favorite chocolate chip cookie variations! They're the perfect balance of crispy, chewy, and soft, not to mention the melty pools of chocolate and chopped pistachios you get in every bite.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Flavor. Obviously, these cookies are jam-packed with chocolate and pistachio flavor, but they're also made with brown butter, which makes everything taste better!
Texture. These chocolate pistachio cookies are both crispy and chewy, like all good cookies should be.
Easy to Make. It's a one-bowl recipe, and it doesn't require a mixer, so it comes together super quickly!
Yield. Not only is this an easy recipe, but it yields exactly 16 cookies, which is the perfect amount.

Close up of cookie on baking sheet with a bite missing.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter in my baked goods, but salted is just fine too... you'll just want to reduce the salt the recipe calls for to 1/8 teaspoon.
Light brown sugar: The color, moisture, and flavor you get from the molasses in brown sugar can't be beaten. You can use an equal amount of dark brown sugar if that's all you have on hand!
Granulated sugar: It's nice to have a bit of balance as far as sweeteners are concerned.
Egg: Only 1 large egg is needed here, which helps deliver a chewy final result!
Vanilla: It enhances all the other flavors. I like to use vanilla bean paste, however, vanilla extract will work just fine too! Leaving it out will result in cookies that taste a little bland.
Dark chocolate: I love using dark chocolate in cookies (and all baked goods for that matter), but you could also opt for a semisweet chocolate for this recipe. When it comes to baking with chocolate, make sure to use the highest quality one that has the fewest ingredients.
Pistachios: I usually use unsalted raw pistachios for this cookie recipe, but you can use raw or roasted pistachios, salted or unsalted, whichever you prefer. I recommend buying them already shelled to save time.
All-purpose flour: Only 1 cup of all-purpose flour is needed!
Baking soda: This provides a little leavening action and also helps the cookies to brown nicely while baking.
Salt: Cookies made without salt taste a little plain, so don’t skip it.

Close up of freshly baked salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookies on baking sheet

How to Make Salted Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookies are really easy to make and come together quickly. Here's how you make them!

Brown butter and sugars being whisked together — Whisk the brown butter and sugars together until combined. (Read more on how to brown butter below!)

Fully combined wet ingredients — Whisk in the egg and vanilla until well combined.

Dry ingredients being folded into the wet — Fold in the dry ingredients until just barely combined.

Pistachios and chocolate chunks being folded into cookie dough — Add the pistachios and chocolate chunks and fold until the dough is completely combined.

Cookie scoop portioning out the cookie dough — Use a cookie scoop to portion out the dough.

Cookie dough scooped out onto baking sheet with chocolate chunks on top — Add additional chocolate chunks on top of each dough ball (to help pistachios stick on top post-bake) and then chill the dough.

Freshly baked salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookies on baking sheet — Bake until the edges are golden brown, but the centers still look soft and slightly underdone. Then sprinkle each cookie with chopped pistachios and flaky sea salt and allow to cool completely.

How to Brown Butter

Browning butter is an easy process that only takes a few minutes to complete. All you need is your butter, a saucepan (light-colored makes it easier to see when the milk solids are browning), and a utensil to stir the butter as it browns (I like to use a silicone spatula).

Melt butter in the pan. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir. Once the butter is melted and begins to bubble and foam, stir continuously to ensure none of the milk solids—those little brown bits that appear as the butter melts— burn as they settle on the bottom of the pan.
Wait for the color change. Lower the heat if necessary, and wait for the butter to become a warm shade of golden brown with an undeniably nutty aroma. Remove from heat immediately.
Transfer and cool. Transfer the brown butter to a heatproof bowl and proceed with the recipe as written!

Close up of salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookies on baking sheet with melty chocolate puddles, chopped pistachios, and flaky sea salt on top

How to Get Perfectly Round Cookies

This cookie recipe yields a slightly thinner cookie, which results in a chewier center and delightfully crispy edges. Cookies that spread like this, however, tend to look a hot mess when they first come out of the oven, but there's an easy trick to get perfectly round cookies: use a cookie cutter! By swirling a large round cookie cutter around the freshly baked cookie, you can tuck in the uneven bits and reshape it before it cools and sets, creating a perfectly round cookie with picture-perfect ruffled edges. In order to take advantage of this trick, I recommend baking only 5-6 cookies at a time, leaving ample space between the cookies and the edges of the cookie sheet (so you have room to swirl).

Recipe Troubleshooting & FAQ

Do I have to chill the cookie dough?
Yes, you MUST chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes, though I recommend an hour. If you bake the un-chilled dough, the cookies will come out thinner and crispier and won't hold their shape at all. This cookie dough is a bit on the oily side before chilling due to the brown butter, and it becomes less oily as it chills. Trust the process!

How can you tell when the cookies are done baking?
Remove these cookies from the oven while they still look ever so slightly underdone in the center. The residual heat of the pan will continue to finish cooking them to soft perfection and cause them to set.

Why is this recipe in grams?
I post my recipes in grams as it’s the most accurate way to bake and it’s how I develop them; cups are not only inaccurate, but they vary in volume worldwide! In any event, if you look at the recipe card underneath the ingredients list, you can click “US Customary” and it’ll convert to volume measures!

Close up of salted pistachio chocolate chunk cookie with a bite missing.

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4.92 from 12 votes