A few weeks ago I found pistachios on sale and on a whim bought about a pound.  I wanted to do something with them other than just shove them all into my mouth, which was my first instinct.  Since I had access to a Vitamix at the time I of course turned those pistachios into pistachio butter.  I had never had pistachio butter before and it was delicious.  It had a nice light flavor to it and I thought it would be good in some baked goods.

There are a ton of recipes out there for peanut butter cookies and almond butter cookies, but not that many using pistachio butter.  I decided to remedy that and made these lemon pistachio cookies.  Not to toot my own horn, but I think I knocked it out of the park on these ones.  They are the perfect cookie for springtime. The are light and the hit of lemon adds a nice freshness to them.  I added in a little bit of coconut for some texture but it doesn’t overwhelm the cookie with a coconut flavor.

If you don’t have pistachio butter on hand, you can make these with almond butter or cashew butter.  I wouldn’t use peanut butter though because I think it would overwhelm the lemon flavor.  Ok enough talk more cookie.

Lemon Pistachio Cookie- Makes 12-15 cookies

• 1/2 cup pistachio butter (almond butter or cashew butter would also work)
• 3 tbsp maple syrup (if you like a sweeter cookie add in another tbsp)
• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a small bowl mix together all the wet ingredients.  Add in the shredded coconut, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and lemon zest.  Combine everything.  It will seem really wet and like it won’t stick together but don’t worry that is fine.
3. On a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, scoop out about a tbsp of the dough. Spread it out a little with the back of a spoon as these cookies won’t rise.
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  The cookies are done when the edges just start to turn golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

One word of caution, these cookies can go from being perfect to burnt really quick if you don’t watch them.  I would suggest checking at the 10 minute mark especially if your oven runs hot.  Nothing is worse than a burnt batch of cookies.  Not that that stops me from eating them….

Have a great Friday and enjoy the cookies!