Healthier Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Pistachio Cookies

Cookies (and candy) are pretty much my weakness. Especially chocolate chip cookies. I think it all started because my Nana makes the absolute best chocolate chip cookies in the world, and one of my favorite memories was baking them with her. I especially loved getting to lick the spoon or one of the beaters–who doesn’t?! Sometimes she would bring a batch to us when she would visit, and my youngest sister, my dad and myself would fight over them–somehow it was us three that ended up with the sweet tooth in my immediate family.

That being said, I grew to love baking. At this point in my life though, I don’t always have the proper utensils or ingredients for extravagant baked goods, but I do like to play around with some simple recipes based on what I have in the house. I also (sometimes) try to make slightly healthier modifications, although I do not discriminate against sweets–bring them on!

These Chocolate Chunk Pistachio Cookies were perfect for satisfying my sweet tooth. Ever so slightly crisp on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside. I plan to try another modification on this recipe to see if I can get them even fluffier, but they were delicious as they were. I say “were” because the batch I made is already gone in under a week!

I used a combination of oat flour and almond flour, so they are gluten free (Celiac? Dig in!), and can be vegan if you use dairy free chocolate chunks (or chips). The timing was super important. I decided to let the batter sit in the refrigerator for ~1 hour because mine was very sticky. The time in the fridge allows the sugar to absorb more of the liquid! If the batter is still too sticky, put just a little bit of flour on your hands to form the dough into balls. Using parchment paper will also help prevent too much spreading.

Serve them warm or store them in an air tight container for later–although I can guarantee they’ll be gone quickly!

Ingredients:

1 cup oat flour

1 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut sugar

2 T white sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup chopped pistachios (plus some for sprinkling)

1 tsp vanilla

2 T melted coconut oil** make sure oil is cooled before adding

3 T almond milk (I used reduced sugar vanilla)

1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chunks (I usually just eyeball this)

1. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Then add all wet ingredients and stir to combine. Add in most of the chocolate chunks and stir.
2. Refrigerate batter for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Form dough into small balls and place on pan. Add a few chocolate chunks to the top of each cookie and sprinkle with pistachios and coarse sea salt.
4. Bake ~8-10 minutes or until golden brown but still appear slightly under cooked. Allow to cool 7-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to allow to finish cooking.