4-Ingredient Matcha Pistachio Cookies
These easy, flourless matcha pistachio cookies use only four ingredients and are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free! You can omit the matcha powder for plain pistachio cookies or use melted chocolate and kataifi to make Dubai Chocolate Cookies. Read through the blog post below for the different recipe modification options.
What Makes This Recipe SO Amazing
Okay, okay, I know I have a lot of matcha cookies on my site already, but how could I resist another matcha pistachio combo? And it’s not just about the amazing flavor – this recipe is:
- Flourless, so it’s naturally gluten-free
- Dairy free (no butter?!)
- Only four ingredients
- Only 20 minutes
- Full of fiber and protein
How could you not make this recipe?!
How to Make These Cookies
All you’re going to do is blend your pistachios with sugar and matcha (optional, but obviously recommended). Then mix with an egg, roll into little cookie dough balls, and bake. THAT IS IT! How easy is that? The end texture is sweet, chewy, nutty, floral, and green!
Notes About Ingredient Substitutions and FAQs
What Kind of Pistachios to Use? Adding Salt?
Roasted, salted, shelled pistachios seem to be the most commonly found at my local grocery stores, so that’s what I use for this recipe. If you manage to find unsalted pistachios, simply add one half to one teaspoon salt to the recipe according to your preferences.
Can I Decrease the Sugar?
That said, because I used salted pistachios, I found that one cup of granulated sugar balanced out the saltiness. If you want yours less sweet, which I totally get, you can decrease the sugar to 1/2 cup. The good news is that you can taste your pistachio/sugar/matcha blend before you add it to the egg so you can adjust the saltiness and sweetness to your preferences at that point in the recipe.
Extract or No Extract?
If you want to add a teaspoon vanilla extract or other extract, you can, but I really think the pistachio matcha flavor comes out very strong, and I don’t like for it to compete with extracts in this recipe.
Using Pistachio Butter or Pistachio Paste?
While you certainly can use a commercially made pistachio butter or paste, I don’t recommend it for this recipe. One, they’re typically pretty expensive, and you’re going to need to use an entire cup. Two, you can’t control how much oil is added to their spread, so your cookies may end up very oily.
Do I Need to Chill These Cookies?
Nope! Nut butter cookies typically don’t need to go in the fridge as they hold their shape well. I do recommend flattening the little cookie dough balls before baking since they tend to hold their spherical shape a little too well.
Make Dubai Chocolate Cookies
Remember the Dubai chocolate viral food trend? I was trying to make a “scarecrow” themed cookie for my Wicked Christmas cookie tin, and I realized the shredded phyllo pastry from Dubai chocolate recipes could look just like scarecrow straw. If you’d like to make Elphaba and Scarecrow cookies or if you just want some easy Dubai chocolate cookies, here’s how you’ll do it:
- Make the pistachio cookie recipe as written, either with or without the matcha.
- After the cookies are done baking, melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. I stir the chocolate after every 30 seconds to make sure I don’t accidentally overcook them. Remember that they will melt fast! I used about 1/2 cup for 6-ish cookies. The amount will depend on how thick of a chocolate layer you like. It’s always better to have more chocolate chips on hand just in case.
- Dip one side of the cookie into the melted chocolate. Alternatively, you can dip just a corner of the cookie. Create whatever chocolate design you like.
- Then dip the cookie into toasted kataifi so it sticks to the melted chocolate. If you don’t have a Middle Eastern grocery near you, you can buy it on Amazon.
- Let the chocolate cool down to harden and that’s it!
More Baking Recipes
If you enjoyed this post, please do leave a star rating and comment on the recipe card below, and check out my other dessert recipes for more baking inspiration:
- Toasted Milk Powder Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Matcha Crinkle Cookies
- Matcha White Chocolate Pistachio Butter Cups
- Ube Butter Mochi
- Okinawan Sweet Potato Pop Tarts
Matcha Pistachio Cookie (4 Ingredients, Gluten-Free!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups shelled, roasted pistachios (240 g)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- 1 tsp strong matcha powder
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a food processor or strong blender, pulse pistachios, sugar, and matcha until you get a nut butter begins to form. It's okay if the mixture is somewhat powdery, as long as the pistachios are well ground.
- Transfer pistachio mixture to a mixing bowl and add egg. Mix until a dough forms.
- Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on your baking tray.
- Press a fork down on the center of each cookie dough ball to slightly flatten them.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies begin to puff up and you can see cracks along the surface where steam is escaping.
- Remove cookies from oven and let cool completely before eating. Cookies will be very soft and fall apart when hot but will stay together when cool. Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
What about adding more Matcha powder? What do you think would be the limit?
The only issue with adding more matcha is that it can become too dry. However, the fix for that is you could mix a tiny bit of water into the matcha to make a paste. I would try to keep it to less than a tablespoon of extra water/matcha mixture, but since I haven’t done it myself, I can’t say for sure exactly how much is the limit! Let me know if you find out!
They very good!