Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Pistachio Cookies

These dark chocolate pistachio cookies are the perfect mix of sweet and salty, with just a hint of bitterness from the dark chocolate. The baking soda makes them spread out instead of rising, and when you bake them at 375°C, you get these nice, crispy edges while keeping the center chewy. The key to getting the right texture is chilling the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours before popping them in the oven. I baked these for my holiday cookie boxes last year, and since everyone kept asking for the recipe, I figured I would make it my first post!

Jump to recipe

If you’re interested in the science behind this recipe or some recommendations for my personal favorite products to use, feel free to keep reading 🙂

Why use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips?

I’ll answer this question by starting with a semi-related (but hopefully interesting) history tangent: the chocolate chip cookie made its printed debut in Ruth Wakefield’s 1938 cookbook Tried and True. Owner and operator of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, Wakefield originally dubbed the recipe the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie, which featured Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate bars “cut in pieces the size of a pea.”

Original Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie Recipe. Source: Ruth Wakefield’s Tried and True Recipes, 1938.

The recipe quickly gained popularity across New England, and even earned a segment on Marjorie Hosted’s (Betty Crocker herself) radio program, The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air. By 1939, Nestle had seemingly taken notice of the success of the Chocolate Crunch Cookie and bought the rights to use the recipe and the Toll House name for a whopping $1 and–much more worthwhile–a lifetime supply of chocolate. Nestle’s subsequent marketing efforts coupled with the United States’ entry into the second world war launched the chocolate chip cookie’s popularity into the stratosphere. They became a staple in care packages sent to American soldiers overseas, solidifying their identity as one of America’s favorite desserts alongside the apple pie.

In the 50s, Nestle released pre-cut chocolate “morsels”, later re-branded as chocolate chips, as a simpler alternative to chopping chocolate bars.

Toll House Cookie Ad from the 1950s. Source: Quaint Cooking.

Okay, we’re coming up to the original point here: chocolate chips are specifically formulated to keep their shape while baking, as you can see is advertised above. In order for the chips to hold their shape, they have added stabilizers, less cocoa butter fat content, and are tempered into that iconic teardrop shape.

So, why use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips? Chocolate bars create a smoother texture when melted compared to chocolate chips which can be slightly grainy. Chocolate bars, especially those with a high fat content of at least 70% cocoa solids, will melt more readily, creating puddles of chocolate that spread more evenly throughout the cookies. Additionally, because of the higher cocoa solids content, chocolate bars have a deeper, richer flavor. Depending on your tastes, this may be preferable to the sweeter chocolate chips.

My personal favorite chocolate bars to use are these Ghirardelli 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate bars that you can find at any major grocery store.

Is it important to chill the dough before baking?

There are several reasons why it’s important to chill your cookie dough in the refrigerator before baking:

1. Chilling allows for the butter in the dough to solidify, making it less likely to spread or leak out during baking. This will give your cookie a better structure and texture.
2. Flour hydration! Flour hydration is when the flour absorbs the moisture from the wet ingredients in your dough. I like to call it, “letting the ingredients get to know each other.” Allowing the flour to fully hydrate not only allows for the cookies to bake and brown more evenly, but also helps to develop more flavor. Fully hydrating your dough can take up to 36 hours, but if you’re in a time crunch 2 hours should suffice. Just know that the longer you chill your dough, the more complex the flavor of the cookies.

My favorite vanilla to use for baking these cookies

This recipe calls for vanilla extract, which in and of itself, can be expensiveeee. At my local Publix, the cheapest option is the McCormick Pure Vanilla Extra which is $7.39 for 2oz. In my opinion, that’s pretty expensive for a vanilla that doesn’t have the best flavor. During the holidays, I found a bourbon vanilla bean paste at Trader Joe’s that has oakier, nuttier notes than McCormick, which I personally prefer. Retailing at $4.99 for 4oz, it’s also much more economical.

The vanilla that I use most often, though, is another Trader Joe’s product: the double fold Bourbon Vanilla Extract. It’s more expensive than the paste, selling for $7.99 for 3.55oz, but has a much more concentrated oaky-vanilla flavor that noticeably stands out in baked goods. I particularly like this vanilla in these salted dark chocolate chunk pistachio cookies because it can stand up against the rich chocolate and salt in the recipe.

Any vanilla will do, whatever you have on hand, but if you’re looking for another vanilla to try the next time you’re perusing the aisles at Trader Joe’s, give one of these a try! (This isn’t a sponsor, by the way, I’m just a 26 year-old that eats maybe a questionable amount of Trader Joe’s soup dumplings.)

If you’ve made it to the end of my ramblings, thank you for sticking around! These are a fun take on the classic chocolate chip cookie if you, like me, love pistachios and desserts that are not overly sweet. Let me know in the comments if you make this recipe and how it turns out! ✌🏻