Some of the best Pistachios are from Iran, and I know this firsthand because I’ve tried them all. Turkey, Sicily and the city of California are the world’s major producer of these gorgeous green hued nuts. Sure, I might be biased, but the Persian Pistachios I tried while visiting Iran, were the sweetest and the nuttiest of them all. Was that because they were fresh or because Iran has one of the best growing conditions for Pistachio growing- cool and arid. It’s no surprise then that the nuts make their way into all sorts of Persian dishes from rice, meats and fish and of course desserts and one of my favourite Pistachio sweets is the Persian Pistachio Crinkle Cookies (Pisteh Shirini) as made by my lovely Persian sister in law,Mahin.
These cookies are delicately scented with cardamon, just sweet enough and loaded with pistachios. The cardamom gives cookies an exotic richness and warmth. They have soft and chewy centres with crackly crispy tops. Bonus points, not only are they scrumptious, with the most gorgeous green hue and they are so easy to make! More Pistachio Sweets ideas? Here’s my easy and accessible recipe for Persian Love Cake.
What you need to make Pistachio Crinkle Cookies
- Pistachio – Unsalted, Shelled and Roasted. So for some reason, supermarket (Coles and Woolies) pistachios come packaged at 80g, which is roughly about 2/3 cup. This recipe calls for a cup of pistachios, but you can just make up the difference with plain flour. Which means, the pistachio flour mixture should be 1 and 1/2 cup altogether. No one will know except you.
- Pantry Staples – Egg whites,Icing Sugar,Almond Meal, Lemon Zest
- Flavouring – Cardamon Powder, Pistachio Extract or Almond Extract. I use Pistachio Flavouring to amp up the pistachio-ness of the cookies(available from Essential Ingredient). If not available substitute with almond essence or plain old vanilla.
Easy does it…
What could be simpler,
- Process the pistachio nuts and flour to make pistachio flour. You should have 1 1/2 cup pistachio flour all up. Make up the difference with plain flour.
- Give the egg whites a quick whisk , just enough to break it up.
- Combine this with the rest of the ingredients and use a spoon to mix into a paste. Roll into rounds the size of golf balls and roll in icing sugar. Dust your hands with icing sugar to prevent sticking.
- Want it to look fancier? Place slivers or crushed pistachio in the middle of the cookies before baking. Make a small indentation with your finger in the middle of the cookie and place sliver on the indent so it doesn’t budge.
- Bake and enjoy your delicious cookies. Easy eh? Theres even no need for a mixer.
