This summer, The Hubby and I visited Son A out in the oven baked Phoenix area. Somewhere eastbound on I-10 near Las Cruces, NM, intriguing signs featuring the world’s largest pistachio began to pop up. Posing the Minions in front of state and national park signs and obnoxiously oversized items is a longstanding past-time, so this protruding pistachio intrigued me. As The Hubby was cruising down the highway, humming along to Margaritaville on XM, I was secretly plotting map routes to minimize our travel time, and maximize ops to get there.
My subtle pistachio hints apparently worked, and an alternate route was arranged. (**Disclaimer: The Hubby point blank called me out on my conniving ways and succumbed to my nutty need to see an oversized plaster nut.)
With an earthy, slightly nutty sweet flavor, U.S. grown pistachios are found in the arid states of California, Arizona and New Mexico. These three states export the world’s share of in-shelled pistachios, with Iran and Turkey coming in 2nd and 3rd. Back in the day, try 40+ years ago, pistachios were imported from the Middle East and dyed red. Today, with the increase in U.S. pistachio orchard production, pistachios no longer have a crimson hue. One of these orchards is McGinn’s PistachioLand, home of the world’s largest pistachio. McGinn’s is in Alamagordo, NM situated near the New Mexico Museum of Space History, International Space Hall of Fame, and White Sands National Park.
McGinn’s PistachioLand offers orchard tours, wine tastings, assorted tacky tourist trinkets, tempting flavored pistachios (Green Chile is great!), crunchy nut brittles, and creamy drippy scoops of pistachio ice cream. FYI…The Hubby now is a stand-in for obnoxiously large photo ops.
This post features Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies. As much as I love ice cream, I have yet to master the velvety texture commercially made ice cream has. Cookies are a no brainer. For this recipe, I looked for one that has the right combination of crisp and soft chew. And just because I was feeling fancy, I dipped each baked cookie in melted chocolate and sprinkled on chopped pistachios. The pistachios I used came from McGinn’s, but you can use any brand in your local mega-mart. If pistachios aren’t your favorite, substitute with pecan, walnut, cashew, etc. Any way you crunch it, these nut-based chocolate chip cookies are tasty! Enjoy!
Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies
A little crispy. A lot chewy and chocolatey. And perfectly pistachio!
Ingredients
1 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
1–1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (table, kosher or sea)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1 T. vegetable shortening or coconut oil
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios, flour and granulated sugar until crumbly. Set aside. Using a hand-held or standing mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, baking powder and soda and salt until just combined. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips and remaining 1/2 cup chopped pistachios. Scoop dough using a large tablespoon or ice cream scoop (3 T. size) onto prepared baking sheets. Press dough down to about 1/2-inch thick. Bake for 11-14 minutes or until edges are barely browned. Cool on a wire rack.
In a microwave safe bowl, combine 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 T. shortening. Microwave for about 90 seconds and stir until smooth. Dip half of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped pistachios. Cookies will keep in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 week at room temperature. Cookie dough and baked cookies can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
IMNPB
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