Lemon Pistachio Cookies

A single front view of a lemon pistachio cookie leaning against a wooden board.

5 from 1 vote

Lemon pistachio cookies are a soft delicate cookie that has the bright flavor of lemons and the slightly nutty taste of pistachios.

Prep Time20

Total Bake Time22

Chill1

Total Time1 42

Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Medium

Servings: cookies

Calories: 152kcal

Ingredients

LEMON PISTACHIO COOKIES

1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
⅔ cup (80 g) Powdered sugar
1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Lemon zest
3 Tablespoon (3 Tablespoon) Lemon juice
2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Baking powder
¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
1 cup (123 g) Pistachio roasted chopped

ORANGE GLAZE

1 cup (120 g) Powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons (2 Tablespoons) Orange juice
½ Tablespoon (0.5 Tablespoon) Honey
½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Half & Half

Instructions

LEMON PISTACHIO COOKIES

Weigh or measure the powdered sugar into a bowl and set it aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour into a bowl. Add to the flour the baking powder and the salt. Run a whisk through to blend. Juice and zest a lemon into separate bowls and set them aside. Finally, chop the roasted pistachios.
Slice the butter into a mixer bowl. Cream the butter until it has soft peaks about a minute. Add the powdered sugar and mix for 3 minutes on a medium mixer speed. Add the lemon juice and zest along with the vanilla extract and blend. Scrape down the bowl and on a low mixer speed add about ⅓ of the flour mixture at a time until incorporated. This will only take a minute. Complete the cookie dough by adding the chopped roasted pistachios.
Add the cookie dough to a lightly powdered sugar dusted pastry mat or counter. Roll and form a log about 20 inches long. Cut the log in half and wrap each half with plastic wrap and place them on a baguette pan to help keep them round. If you do not have a baguette pan, you can half the cardboard center of a paper towel roll and then lay each log in one half. Chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. Take one of the cookie logs and slice even ¾-inch slices. You should get about 13 or 14 cookies per log. Add all the slices from one log onto one of the prepared cookie sheet pans and bake for 10-12 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave them on the pan for a minute before moving them to a cooling rack.

ORANGE GLAZE

Start with juicing an orange. Next, weigh or measure the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add to the bowl the orange juice, honey, and the half & half. Take a whisk and blend until smooth. I use a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon of the orange glaze to drizzle on top of each cookie. Let them sit for about an hour so that the glaze will set and dry.

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