Pistachio Filled Caramelised White Chocolate Cookies

The internet seems to be having a big pistachio moment right now. I have been having a pistachio ‘moment’ for many years now, I am happy to see everyone else is catching on to how delicious everything pistachio is.

There are a few recipes floating around that use a pistachio cream (crema di pistacchio) as a filling for cookies, plus a few bakeries selling cookies like this too. I am all for pistahcio cream anything, however, when it comes to using it in baking at home I really consider how I am going to use it.

Crema di pistacchio is an expensive ingredient, and sometimes not easy to buy. I have had multiple times I’ve found a brand of pistachio cream I like, only for the shop I bought it from to never sell it again. I’ve got the impression that these shop’s suppliers find it hard to import these products from Italy for whatever reason. But it’s really annoying to find something, enjoy it, then never be able to buy it again.

And that’s not to mention the price per jar, which is usually around $20AUD for a 180g or so jar. If I’m using a whole jar in one recipe, that’s an expensive bake.

There are Australian based brands that are making/selling pistachio creams/spreads that you could use. One of the brands I found was genuinely disgusting in flavour, and the other has quite a low percentage of pistachios in the spread. While the second brand I thought flavour wise was pretty good considering the low percentage of pistachios and the price, baking with it is still a rather expensive exercise. I also didn’t love how many ‘extra’ ingredients were contained in some of these spreads, compared to the imported Italian varieties.

Considering all that, I decided if I were going to make some cookies/biscuits stuffed with a pistachio spread, I was going to make the spread myself. A homemade pistachio spread or butter will have a better flavour than many of the bought pistachio creams, plus it won’t be quite as expensive!

I have been making pistachio butter/spread like the one in the recipe below for years (if you have my ebook Cosy Winter Bakes you might recognise the pistachio butter recipe!). The addition of white chocolate gives the pistachio spread a sweetness and creamy texture that is similar to the bought varieties.

When using homemade pistachio spread/butter as a filling in cookies, you won’t get that oozing of the pistachio spread out of the cookie (when the cookie is broken in half) like you would when buying a cookie like this or making one using crema di pistacchio. However, I think its a small price to pay for a delicious cookie, that doesn’t have to use up your very expensive jar of pistachio cream, and is decidedly less messy to eat as well!

Homemade Pistachio Butter/Spread

Pistachio Filled Caramelised White Chocolate Cookies/Biscuits

Ingredients:

170g raw pistachios

160g caramelised white choc (e.g. Caramilk, or any white choc)

120g unsalted butter, melted

180g caster sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk

1 egg, beaten

290g self raising flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp slivered pistachios (or roughly chopped whole pistachios)

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking paper. Place the pistachios on the tray, and roast in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until they are lightly golden and fragrant. Allow to cool. You won’t need your oven again for a while so you can turn it off for now.

Make the pistachio butter by blitzing the toasted pistachios in a food processor until they form fine crumbs. Measure out 50g of the pistachio crumbs and set aside, this will be used in the biscuit dough later. 

Melt 60g of the caramelised white chocolate, then add to the blitzed pistachios. Keep blitzing until the pistachios form a paste (this will take around 10 minutes, depending on your food processor). Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl now and then to ensure everything is processing evenly. Once done the pistachio butter will be smooth and creamy, and the texture will seem light and soft. Place the pistachio butter in a bowl or container and leave in the fridge until it has chilled and firmed up (at least 1 hour, but you can do this step in advance and leave overnight).

To make the biscuit dough, place the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, milk and egg in a large mixing bowl, and whisk until combined.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, the 50g pistachio crumbs you set aside earlier, and the baking powder. 

Roughly chop the remaining caramelised white chocolate (100g), until you have small chunks. 

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix with a wooden spoon until almost combined. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until everything is combined.  

Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. 

Once the dough has chilled, divide it into 12 equal portions. 

Take one of the portions and remove about 1/3 of the dough. Press the remaining larger portion of dough into a flatter disc, allowing the sides to curl up like a birds nest. Place a heaped teaspoon of the chilled pistachio butter inside the dough. Bring the sides of the dough up around the butter, then place the remaining 1/3 of dough over the top of the pistachio butter filled biscuit and smooth out so there are no gaps. Gently roll the filled biscuit between your hands so it is a nice round shape. 

Continue with each of the portions of dough so you have 12 pistachio butter filled individual dough balls. You should use most if not all of the pistachio butter across the 12 biscuits. 

Place the dough balls on a lined tray or in a container (or similar), cover, and place in the fridge for 3 hours (or overnight). 

When ready to bake the biscuits, preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Ensure you have two large baking trays lined and ready. 

Spread the dough biscuit balls out over the prepared trays leaving enough room around the biscuits as they will spread. Sprinkle with the slivered pistachios, pushing them into the dough a bit.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until they are gently golden in colour. Rotate the trays in the oven at least once during the cooking time so the biscuits cook more evenly. If you can’t bake the biscuits all at once leave the dough balls in the fridge until you have oven space.

Allow to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before eating. 

Makes 12 large biscuits.

These cookies are a more cake-y style cookie, so they are the absolute best the day they are baked. You can store them in an airtight container or jar, however they will have a slightly softer texture than when they were first baked. You can refresh them a bit by putting them in the oven for 5-8 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius.

Pistachio and Rhubarb Cake

To me, this is a very satisfying cake to make. The most complex part is blitzing the pistachios to form a crumb. You can use a stand mixer for this recipe, however if your butter is very much at room temperature (or you are using an alternative like margarine, which is the perfect consistency straight from the fridge), you could just use a wooden spoon to mix it all together in a large mixing bowl. 

The flavours are also exactly what I want to eat. Obviously I always want to eat cake that contains pistachio, and rhubarb adds a lovely sweet yet tart element to the whole thing that feels just right. 

The inspiration for this cake came from the many times I have been looking at Tilly Pamment’s new book ‘The Plain Cake Appreciation Society’ of late, and my eye constantly being drawn to the recipes that used pistachio and those that used rhubarb. Tilly’s book uses a lot of flavours that I love to bake with and eat, and it gave me an idea to create a simple cake with some things I already had ingredient wise. 

I basically always have pistachios of some kind on hand, and we have had some rhubarb in the freezer for a few months now that is crying out to be used. The pistachios add a really nice green colour to the cake, and also a great texture too. And as much as I love a cake with icing, I also really like that this cake doesn’t need one. The slightly chewy texture the pistachios give the outer of the cake is perfect the way it is. It also means a slice of cake can be enjoyed a little sooner, which is a win in my books. 

Pistachio and Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients: 

175g unsalted butter, softened

175g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

125g raw pistachios

175g self raising flour

150g rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces

1 tbsp slivered or roughly chopped pistachios 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm round springform or loose bottomed cake tin.

Using a food processor, grind the pistachios into a fine crumb/meal (the same consistency as almond meal). Don’t over process or you may end up with pistachio nut butter, rather than pistachio meal. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs separately, beating well after each. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and blitzed pistachios, then add to the batter and gently mix until just combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the tin and smooth the top. Push the rhubarb into the top of the cake a little, evenly covering the cake in the rhubarb pieces. Scatter the slivered pistachios over the top of the cake.

Bake for about an hour, or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. 

Leave the cake to cool before removing from the tin. 

Serves 8, stores well in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Pistachio White Chocolate Blondie

I seem to be incapable of not thinking of recipes that use pistachio, or specifically crema di pistachio spread. I am well and truely obsessed, and I can’t see that changing any time soon. 

While the combination of pistachio and white chocolate is very good, you could also adapt this recipe to use a chocolate hazelnut spread (or similar) if thats more your thing (and it is certainly easier to buy than crema di pistachio) and swap out the chopped pistachios for chopped hazelnuts and the white chocolate could be substituted for milk or dark chocolate as well. 

You can essentially make this blondie recipe your own - as long as you keep the quantities of everything the same it will work a treat. 

I personally steer clear of actual chocolate in my blondie recipes as I can’t eat milk or dark chocolate, and therefore, do not want any in my blondie. For me it’s not a blondie if it has any milk or dark chocolate in it, as to me it becomes as inedible as an actual brownie. However feel free to make any adaptations that suit you, I know I’m most probably in the minority when it comes to not eating proper chocolate (i.e. all chocolate that is not white chocolate). 

And a final note on the recipe, I use panela sugar in my blondie as I much prefer the flavour and texture it gives. It creates a nice slightly caramel flavour without being sickly sweet which I think works really well. You can substitute with light or dark brown sugar if you don’t have any panela - though I do highly recommend you try it!

Pistachio Blondie 

Ingredients: 

135g unsalted butter, melted 

250g panela sugar 

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

270g plain Flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

150g white chocolate, chopped

50g + 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped

1/4 cup crema di pistacchio or pistachio butter, optional

Method: 

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a 23cm square cake or brownie tin with baking paper. 

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, panela sugar, eggs and vanilla extract with a whisk. 

Add the plain flour, baking powder and salt and mix again with a whisk until combined. 

Add in the chopped white chocolate and 50g pistachios and briefly mix together with a spatula or wooden spoon. 

Pour the blondie mixture into your prepared tin, and smooth the top with the spatula or wooden spoon you were just using. 

If using, dollop teaspoonfuls of the pistachio spread over the surface of the blondie, then using a knife, swirl the spread into the blondie. 

Sprinkle with the 2 tbsp of chopped pistachios.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. 

Allow the blondie to cool in its tin, then remove and cut into 9 very generous slices or about 12 slightly less generous slices - or you can cut it however suits you. 

Store in an airtight container.

Serves about 12. 

Another Pistachio and Rose Cake

Another pistachio and rose cake. I promise this one is a bit different to the rest. 

Pistachio and rose is a flavour combination I will never tire of, and since I am still enjoying my new found like of buttercream, I decided a rose buttercream would be worth a try. 

I have used freeze dried raspberry powder to colour my icing, however any pink food colouring will also work well. I find the rose flavour comes through really well the day after this cake is made, so if you wanted to make it in advance you definitely could, I would just leave the final decorations till the day you wished to serve it (if using any kind of edible flowers). 

Unlike the last few pistachio cake recipes I have posted here, this cake only needs raw pistachios blitzed to a crumb/meal, rather than a ready made pistachio spread. Which I hope makes this cake a bit easier to make and more accessible ingredient wise too. 

Another Pistachio and Rose Cake a.k.a Pistachio Cake with Rose Buttercream

Ingredients: 

150g pistachios

175g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp rosewater

100g light brown sugar

75g caster sugar

3 eggs

150g self raising flour

Ingredients for the Icing: 

150g unsalted butter, at room temp 

1.5 tbsp rosewater

190g icing sugar, sifted

Pink food colouring/2-2.5 tsp freeze dried raspberry powder, optional

Edible flowers fresh or dried, to decorate (optional)

1 tbsp slivered or roughly chopped pistachios, to decorate

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 20cm round springform cake tin.

While the oven is heating up, place the pistachios on a lined baking tray to gently toast. Remove the pistachios once the oven has pre-heated or after 3 minutes or so. 

Allow the pistachios to cool down a bit, then place in a food processor and blitz until a fine crumb/meal forms.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, rosewater and sugars using the paddle attachment. Beat until light and fluffy. 

Then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently mix in the blitzed pistachios until combined.

Add the self raising flour and gently fold by hand using a spatula in until combined.

Transfer the cake batter into the tin and smooth the top. 

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake. 

Leave the cake to cool before removing from the tin. 

Once the cake has cooled, place it on a serving plate. 

Then make the icing by beating the butter and 1 tbsp of the rosewater in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat for about 1-2 minutes, or until the butter is nice and fluffy. 

Add the icing sugar and 2 tsp of the freeze dried raspberry powder (if using), and beat again until the icing is soft and fluffy, about 1 minute. 

If using food colouring, add that in now, starting with a small amount and adding more as needed. You can also add in the extra 1/2 tbsp of rosewater if you would like a stronger rose flavour, and if using the freeze dried raspberry powder, add in the additional 1/2 tsp to deepen the colour of the icing if you wish. 

Evenly spread the icing over the top of the cake, then decorate with any edible flowers you may have, and some slivered or roughly chopped pistachios. 

Serves 8-10. Will keep for a few days at room temperature in an airtight container.

Crema di Pistacchio Cake

I wasn’t planning on sharing this recipe on the blog since it is quite similar to a few other pistachio cakes already on here. But when I shared this cake on my Instagram stories on the weekend, a few people asked for the recipe/expressed interest in making it so I thought it would be easiest to put it all here.

Both the cake and the icing are based on recipes that are already on my blog. The cake is based on this recipe (which in turn is based on one by Skye McApline which is referenced below). The only real change to the recipe is using the crema di pistacchio spread in place of the pistachio butter and melted white chocolate.

The icing is loosely based on this one I made last Easter with Biscoff spread, and I can highly recommend it as the pistachio flavour comes through really well in the buttercream.

The flavour in the cake is more subtle compared to using homemade or bought pure pistachio butter, as is the colour. If you don’t have a lot of crema di pistacchio, or can’t find it at all, I would recommend using the original recipe. Crema di pistacchio is still difficult to buy here in Australia, plus it can be quite a pricey thing to buy, so if you only have a small jar of it I wouldn’t recommend using the whole thing in a cake.

I have tried three brands of crema di pistacchio (or crema al pistacchio), and all have been very tasty. The colours vary a little, and sometimes the percentage of pistachio as well (I compare this based on whether pistachio is the first ingredient on the ingredients list).

I have pictured below the ones I have bought before, plus the original picture from Skye McAlpine’s Instagram stories back in late 2019 that initially set off my search for a jar of my own. That along with her original recipe for this type of cake, have set me on a real pistachio adventure the last couple of years - it has been tasty and expensive and I’ve loved every minute of it (despite the expensive part!).

I recently found where I could buy crema di pistacchio online here in Australia via La Dispensa. Which has been great since the importation of goods from overseas has been inconsistent and sometimes non-existent since the pandemic began, and the shops I know that usually stock it haven’t always had any as a result.

I was excited to find that La Dispensa sold 1kg tubs of crema di pistacchio which probably made my year to be honest. I got one, and decided that armed with so much crema di pistacchio I could use some to make this cake and try out a pistachio buttercream. Usually to make this cake, it would use a whole jar of the spread which makes it quite an expensive cake. I also didn’t think it was worth using a jar on just one thing since the flavour was subtle once baked, and there is so much joy in eating this spread on toast, crumpets etc etc.

The amount of the spread needed for the icing is much less, so you can always combine the original version of the cake with the pistachio buttercream and you will still have a very delicious cake.

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Crema di Pistacchio Cake

Ingredients: 

200g unsalted butter, softened

200g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

180g crema di pistacchio

3 eggs

120ml buttermilk / 120g yoghurt

200g self raising flour

Ingredients for the Buttercream: 

150g unsalted butter, at room temp

190g icing mixture/icing sugar* 

80g crema di pistacchio

Method: 

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a 20cm round cake tin (I find using a springform one is easiest). 

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add the crema di pistacchio and mix until combined. 

Add in the eggs one at a time, then add half the flour and mix on low speed until combined. Then add the buttermilk/yoghurt and mix until well combined. Add the remaining flour and mix on low speed until combined and the batter is smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake for 50 minutes. Then cover the cake with foil (the cake will be quite browned by now) and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through. A skewer will come out clean when the cake is cooked through. 

Allow the cake to cool in its tin for a few minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool further.

To make the icing, beat the butter using a stand mixer and the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes, or until it is pale and creamy. Add in the icing sugar, and beat for another 1-2 minutes or until the icing is fluffy. 

Add the crema di pistacchio and mix until combined.

Spread the buttercream over the top of the cake and enjoy!

Serves 10.  

*I always use the CSR Soft Icing Mixture (the one in the pink packet) as it won’t need sifting before it is used. If you are using pure icing sugar it will need to be sifted first. 

Recipe note 15/07/2024 - you can also bake this cake in a square cake tin (20-23cm) and it will not need as long in the oven. It should take 40-50 minutes and you won’t need to cook for the further 20-25 mins with the cake covered in foil.

Reference: ‘A Table for Friends’ by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) p.232.

Pistachio Loaf with Rose Icing

I think my love of pistachio is fairly widely know by now. Sometimes people even send me messages or tag me in things on Instagram about pistachio related things or products they think I should know about. I love it. 

I genuinely crave pistachio flavoured things, and this cake is no exception. 

It is a slight adaptation of a loaf cake from my Cosy Winter Bakes eBook, and closely related to this Rose Petal and Pistachio Cake. The recipe in its original form came from Skye McApline, and like any really good recipe, it has lent itself to many adaptations and variations. It’s been the recipe that keeps on giving. 

This version uses a subtly scented rose glaze icing to complement the pistachio cake, and is my new favourite version of this recipe.

Pistachio Loaf with Rose Icing

Ingredients: 

200g unsalted butter, softened

190g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

120g pistachio butter*

60g white chocolate, melted

3 eggs

120g yoghurt

200g self raising flour 

Ingredients for the Icing: 

170g icing mixture

1.5-2 tbsp rosewater

dried edible rose petals, to decorate

slivered or roughly chopped pistachios, to decorate

Method: 

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a 22 x 10 x 8.5 cm (approx.) loaf tin.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Mix together the pistachio butter and melted white chocolate, then add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. 

Add in the eggs one at a time, then add the yoghurt and mix until well combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined and the batter is smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake for 50 minutes. Then cover the cake with foil and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the cake is cooked through. 

Allow the cake to cool in its tin for a few minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool further.

Once the cake has almost completely cooled down make the icing by, mixing together the icing sugar and 1 tbsp of the rosewater, adding more a little at a time until you have a smooth spreadable icing (it shouldn’t be really runny or it will run off the cake). 

Spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to fall over the sides a little. Sprinkle with some dried edible rose petals and slivered pistachios to decorate. 

*or the same quantity of lightly toasted pistachios blitzed in a food processor until it forms a butter (10-20 minutes). 

Reference: ‘A Table for Friends’ by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020) p.232.