These Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies are delicious and healthy cookies made with no gluten, no eggs, no dairy and just 6 ingredients.
While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!
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Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies
These Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies are delicious and healthy cookies made with no gluten, no eggs, no dairy and just 6 ingredients.
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Servings: 10 cookies
Calories: 193.4 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Medjool Dates - (note 1) 16 dates 150g/5.5oz soaked and drained
- 1 cup Pistachio - (note 2), shelled, unsalted
- ½ cup Rolled Oats - (note 3)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Filling
- ⅓ cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips - (note 4)
- 4-5 tablespoons Pistachio Butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- Place the pitted dates in a glass bowl, pour boiled water on top, soak them for 5 minutes, and drain.
- In a food processor, add the soaked, drained pitted dates, pistachios, oats, and vanilla extract.
- Process on medium-high speed for 20 seconds, stop the food processor, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and repeat a few times, until the nuts look like tiny pieces of broken pistachios, and the dough sticks together when squeezed in your hand. If the dough is crumbly and dry, add 1 or 2 teaspoon of water, blend on medium speed, test the dough in your hand again, and stop adding water when the dough is sticky and you can roll it into balls.
- Roll 10 balls and place each of them on the prepared baking sheet, flatten the top of the balls with your hand, then use the back of a teaspoon measuring tool, lightly oiled at the back, to press in the center of each cookie. It will form a cavity that you can fill later with pistachio butter.
- Bake the cookies 12-14 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the sides are golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a plate.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate chips, and microwave in 30-second bursts, stir, and repeat until fully melted.
- Fill each cookie cavity with a teaspoon of pistachio butter, then drizzle melted dark chocolate on top of the pistachio butter to almost fully cover it.
- Place the cookies in the fridge for 1 hour, or 10 minutes in the freezer, to quickly firm up the chocolate layer.
Notes
Note 1: You can use other dates varieties but you will have to play with the recipe a little bit. Other varieties are drier than Medjool dates, it means you might need 1 or 2 more dates, or more water to stick the ingredients into a dough.
Note 2: Use unsalted shelled pistachios, or other nuts like almonds, cashews, or seeds like pumpkin seeds.
Note 3: Or almond flour if you don’t tolerate oats.
Note 4: Use a sweetened pistachio butter if you like sweeter cookies, or a pure pistachio butter with no added sugar for a low sugar cookie. You can always stir maple syrup in your nut butter to add a natural sweetness to it if desired.
Oven Mode: I use the fan-forced (convection) mode. If you have to use conventional mode, I recommend increasing the temperature by 25°F (15 °C). The baking time should be the same, but it might take a few more minutes.
Storage: Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Serving: 1ball | Calories: 193.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.5g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 10.5g | Saturated Fat: 2.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4.5g | Sodium: 7.3mg | Potassium: 343.5mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 13.5g | Vitamin A: 89.3IU | Vitamin B12: 0.02µg | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 49.2mg | Iron: 1.1mg | Magnesium: 37.2mg | Phosphorus: 121.5mg | Zinc: 0.8mg
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. Here’s how to pick and swap them.
- Medjool Dates – This ingredient binds the cookie dough together and provides all the natural sweetness. You can use other date varieties, but they are often drier, so you might need to add an extra date or a teaspoon of water to get the dough to stick.
- Pistachio – This is the main ingredient, giving the cookies their nutty flavor and structure. Note 2 mentions you can also use almonds, cashews, or pumpkin seeds.
- Rolled Oats – This ingredient helps bind the cookies and adds a nice chewy texture. Almond flour is a good substitute if you don’t tolerate oats.
- Vanilla Extract – This adds a layer of warm flavor that complements the pistachio and chocolate.
- Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips – These are for melting and drizzling on top, adding that rich chocolate finish. Any plant-based chocolate bar or chip is fine.
- Pistachio Butter – This creates the rich, creamy filling for the “thumbprint” part of the cookie.
How to Make Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies (in Pictures)
Carine’s Baking Tips
Let me share a few more tips for perfect pistachio cookies
- Oat Substitute – If you don’t tolerate oats or just prefer a different texture, you can swap them for the same amount of almond flour.
- Soak Your Dates – Don’t skip soaking the dates. This step is essential for making them soft and sticky enough to bind the dough together.
- Sticky Dough – If your dough seems too crumbly after processing (this can happen if the dates are dry), just add 1-2 teaspoons of water and blend again until it sticks.
- Sweeten the Filling – For a sweeter cookie, you can use a pre-sweetened pistachio butter. If you only have natural, unsweetened butter, simply stir 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup right into it before filling.
Can you make the dough ahead of time?
Not really, the fiber in oats will dry the dough and it will difficult to work the next day. But you can bake the cookies, freeze them for up to 1 month.
My family loved this! Thanks for sharing
My pleasure! thank you for trying and sharing my recipes.
What is the ingredients for the pistachio butter for the filling in the center thank you
I buy ready made pistachio butter, it’s made of 100% pistachios. To make your own you need a high speed food processor, blitz the pistachios and repeat until it turn into a creamy butter. It’s a long process that won’t work with all blender, that’s why I buy mine.
Have you done this recipe using a vitamix?
It’s terribly hard to blend in my Vitamix, I use a food processor for thick sticky batter like this one.
I made these and they are Incredible. Probably one of my favorite cookies of all the time!!!! I just love pistachio, and I have so many that I was trying to figure out what to do with them in your recipe pops up. The only thing I didn’t have was the pistachio butter so I just skipped that. I probably could’ve made some, but it was still awesome without it. Also, my pistachios were salted and I just rinsed them for a minute and that seemed to be fine lol
Thank you so much !
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
My pleasure!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
My pleasure! I am happy you enjoy it.
Where is your gluten-free conversion guide?
It’s here.