This is the ultimate vegan cookie recipe for pistachio lovers! These soft pistachio cookies are naturally flavored and colored with pistachios and finished with a vanilla sugar glaze.
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Love pistachio desserts? Try my vegan recipes for pistachio cheesecake, pistachio tiramisu, pistachio lemon olive oil cake, pistachio cake, pistachio donuts, pistachio muffins, and pistachio tart next!
📖 Recipe Overview
- Quick & Easy - You only need around 15 minutes of active prep time to make them!
- Soft & Flavorful - The pistachio flavor is prominent, with a hint of vanilla, almond, and lemon. The cookies are soft, similar to vegan sugar cookies but in drop cookie format!
- Natural Flavors & Colors - With no pistachio pudding mixes or artificial green coloring, just natural pistachio nuts. They have a subtle green color, a great treat to celebrate Christmas or St. Patrick's Day!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
You only need 10 ingredients to make these easy pistachio cookies, and a lot of them are pantry staples. Here's what to grab:
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan Unsalted Butter - This recipe calls for block-style butter, not spreadable margarine from a tub.
- Raw Shelled Pistachios - Pistachios without skins or with skins are fine, just make sure they are unsalted. I have not tried roasted pistachios, but bear in mind they will alter the color and flavor of the cookies.
- Vegan Yogurt - Go for thick Greek-style yogurt, coconut yogurt, or vegan sour cream. This acts as an egg replacer and adds a lovely tangy flavor to your eggless pistachio cookies.
- Vanilla & Almond Extract - These amplify the natural pistachio flavor. You can skip the almond in a pinch but don't skip the vanilla extract!
- Lemon Juice - This adds a hint of a sharp zippy twist to help balance the sweetness of the cookies.
- Sea Salt - Salt adds a dimension of flavor and overall enhances the flavor in all cookies in my opinion!
🥣 How To Make Pistachio Cookies
This recipe is super straightforward, once you have blended the nuts and sugar it comes together in one bowl. Make sure you check the printable recipe card below for full instructions, and here is a visual of how it's done:
Step 1: Add the pistachios and granulated sugar to a food processor and blitz until they resemble a powdery consistency.
Step 2: Add the pistachio sugar to a large bowl with the softened butter and whisk with a hand mixer until creamed together.
Step 3: Add the remaining wet ingredients (dairy-free yogurt, almond and vanilla extract, and lemon juice) and whisk to combine.
Step 4: Fold in the dry ingredients (plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt) until combined.
Step 5: Use a cookie scoop to divide out 14 cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 12-13 minutes.
Step 6: Mix the icing and drizzle it on top of the cookies after they have cooled to room temperature.
🍃 Variations
I love this pistachio cookie recipe as written (it's one of my favorites to date!), but here are some ways to adapt the recipe to your taste:
- Giant Bakery-Style Cookies - For huge cookies, use a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to divide the dough into 8 sections. Bake them for an extra 2-3 minutes as needed.
- Add Citrus - Rub a tablespoon of freshly grated orange, lime, or lemon zest into the pistachio sugar for a fruity twist.
- Frosted Cookies - Pipe cream cheese frosting or pistachio buttercream on top of the cookies, or between 2 cookies to make sandwich cookies.
- Pistachio Ice Cream Sandwiches - Sandwich 2 cookies on either side of a scoop of vanilla or pistachio ice cream.
- Skip The Glaze - These sugar cookies are sweet enough without the glaze, so feel free to leave it out.
- Chocolate - Add in up to 100g of vegan chocolate chips, dark chocolate chunks, vegan white chocolate chunks, or dairy-free white chocolate chips if they're available to you!
- Dried Fruit - Add up to 100g of dried cherries or dried cranberries for a fruity twist.
💡Recipe Tips
Leave around 2 inches between each cookie. This gives them enough space to spread while baking.
Line your tray with parchment OR you're using a non-stick tray to bake them, carefully lift them off of the tray using a spatula after 5 minutes, while the cookies are still warm. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Let the cookies cool fully before icing them. If they're warm, the icing will melt on top of the cookie and you will lose the definition of the drizzled icing.
Don't bake on a hot cookie tray. If baking in batches, always make sure your cookie tray is cool before placing more unbaked cookies on top.
💬 FAQs
Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container. They'll last at room temperature for about 5 days. If you’d like to extend their life, keep them in the freezer for up to a month.
Yes! Feel free to freeze cookie dough balls to bake off whenever you get a homemade cookie craving!
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
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Description
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 100 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) raw shelled pistachios, (with or without skins) *see note 1
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 130 g (½ cup + 1 tbsp) vegan butter (block-style), softened *see note 2
- 40 g (2 tbsp) vegan Greek-style yogurt, or vegan skyr, vegan sour cream or coconut yogurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 200 g (1 ⅔ cups) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Icing (optional)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon vegan Greek-style yogurt, or non-dairy-milk
- 120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F.
- Blend the nuts and sugar: Add the pistachios and sugar to a food processor or blender, and blitz until finely ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the wet ingredients: To the pistachio sugar, add the butter and use an electric whisk or stand mixer to whisk for 2 minutes to combine. Add the vegan yogurt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon juice and whisk again until combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and fold it in using a spatula.
- Bake: Use a cookie scoop to divide out 14 cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave around 2 inches between each cookie. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, then remove them from the oven and if needed, round off the edges using a large cookie cutter. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking tray to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Make the icing: Mix together the ingredients until smooth and transfer to a piping bag and snip off the top. Once the cookies are cool, pipe the icing on top of each cookie, or simply drizzle the icing on top with a spoon. Let the icing set for 10-20 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Pistachios: Raw shelled pistachios with or without skins (without skins will give the most vibrant color). I do not recommend roasted and/or salted pistachios.
- Softened Butter: Take it out of the fridge around an hour before use and let it sit on your kitchen counter.
Nutrition
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