How do we make chocolate chip cookies better? Well, we can’t. It’s just a fact of life. But that’s ok. What we can do is make them different. We’re going to add cardamom and pistachios and we’re going to be very happy about it. Trust me on this.
(Side note: different does not mean better or worse, it just means different and different is still good.)
Cardamom Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yum.
According to my blog index I haven’t made cookies since December 15, but really it was probably at least a week before that. Ok, maybe there was that one time in January… But still, that’s just too many weeks without baking cookies. Eating cookies though, that I have for sure done since December 15 (quantities not to be discussed).
People at General Mills (AKA: the people I give most of my baked goods away to so that I don’t have to eat them all myself) were all like, “Hey Jenna, you haven’t brought in any cookies lately.” And I’m all like “Yeah, I know… weird. Perhaps, soon?” Then I promised I would bring in cookies to the next Twin Cities in Motion marketing committee meeting (which was this past Thursday).
So, cookies just needed to happen. I baked some. And then I ate some. And then I shared some. And then I ate one. And then I shared the rest. But I kept two for myself. And then everyone lived happily ever after.
Now I’m sharing the recipe with you so that you and those around you (assuming you share, not judging if you don’t) can be happy as well.
We take a basic, but delicious, chocolate chip cookie recipe with lots of butter and sugar and flour. Then we sneak a teaspoon of cardamom in with the dry ingredients and stir some pistachios in with the chocolate chips. We are also going to refrigerate the dough over night so that all these wonderful flavors can meld together.
You know what, let’s not even sneak in that cardamom. Let’s conspicuously add it and blatantly stir in those pistachios. No one likes sneaking around anyways.
If you don’t want to wait for the cookies to refrigerate overnight, you should probably work on your patience. But, I understand. When you want a cookie, you want a cookie. I feel you. You can go ahead and bake them right away if you want, I’m sure they will still be delicious. But just know that good things take time and you could be missing out on some even better cookies. #FOMO
We can compromise: bake a couple (example: 3) right away. Eat one straight from the oven. Eat one completely cooled. Give the last one to your significant other/best friend/cat/yourself. Let the rest of the dough sit overnight and bake them ALL the next day. You could even wait an entire 72 hours if you really wanted to.
But let’s be real, in whose fridge does cookie dough even last 72 hours?! A handful of carrots, a spoonful of cookie dough. A bunch of grapes, a bunch of cookie dough. This is why I bring cookies into work!
This recipe makes 3 ½ dozen cookies. 3 dozen if you taste test the dough a lot…
And then I ran 10 miles. And then I found $5.
Oh, and don’t forget to sprinkle on some sea salt after pulling them out of the oven. Game changer.
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
- Sea salt, for sprinkling
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cardamom, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and pistachios (feel free to chop up the pistachios a bit).
- Transfer dough to a sealed container and refrigerate for 24-72 hours.
- When ready to bake preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Drop dough by rounded teaspoons (or cookie scoop) on the cookie sheets, leaving an inch or two between each cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on the cookies, then let them sit on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
I agree: even if you can’t make chocolate chip cookies better, you can make different versions. Like this one!
It’s difficult to made bad chocolate chip cookies, but it’s equally as difficult to make truly excellent ones. These look so amazing that I would go make them right now if it wasn’t the middle of the night and we had the ingredients!
You mean your pantry isn’t always stocked with these ingredients?! Haha 😉 Thanks, Nathan!