One of the best things about California is the abundance of fresh produce and ingredients everywhere. You can find a Farmers’ Market on every corner, grocery stores filled with products from local vendors, and tons of fresh fruit and vegetable roadside stands.
When my good friend Mayra stopped by with a giant basket of freshly picked vegetables and fruits from her family’s garden, I knew I was in heaven. In her basket were also jars of fresh honey – apparently her brother in law has beehives at his house and harvests his own honey!
I went on a search to find unique recipes with honey that would showcase Mayra’s gift, and came across this: Salted Honey Pistachio Cookies that were filled with white chocolate chips from Cookies & Cups.
I mean, come on. Salted honey pistachio cookies with white chocolate chips?!
The cookies were delicious, delightful, unique, with bursts of a little flavor of everything: the sea salt offset the sweetness of the honey and white chocolate and pistachios added a lovely crunch. I followed the advice of Sally from Cookies & Cups to not overcook the cookies and let them continue cooking on the baking tray for a few more minutes and they were perfectly done!
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pistachios
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- optional – flaked sea salt for garnish
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat melt the butter and bring to a boil. Stir or swirl pan consistently as the butter boils and begins to brown (about 5 minutes). It will turn a deep amber color. Remove from the heat and allow the butter to cool for 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- When the butter is cooled add it to the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Add in the honey, egg, vanilla, sea salt, and baking soda. Mix for an additional minute, until combined.
- Turn mixer to low and add in flour, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the pistachios and white chocolate chips until evenly combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop (2 tablespoons) drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet about 2- inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Don’t over-bake.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Sprinkle with flaked sea salt if desired.
- The trick to keeping these cookies soft is to watch the bake time carefully. All ovens bake slightly differently, also the baking sheet you use can make a huge difference. I bake these for exactly 8 minutes in my oven, and the cookie gets slightly golden at the edges while looking slightly underdone on top. They will continue to bake as they sit on the hot baking sheet, so make sure to let them sit on the sheet for 4-5 minutes after you take them out of the oven.
I am always looking for fun cookies that are a bit different and these look and sound so wonderful! They kind of remind me of a very upscale “sandie”
You are definitely spot on with the “sandie” bit – I can see a lot of similarities between the two as this is a slightly “drier” cookie!
Delicious cookies. I love cookies with pistachio’s I will give it a try.
Awesome, Deepti! I hope you like it!! 🙂