Paste di Pistacchio, or Pistachio cookies, hail from the beautiful island of Sicily. They have a delightfully crisp outer shell and a chewy, soft center.

Two years ago I put up the recipe for Paste di Mandorle, or Sicilian Almond Cookies, and it has become one of the top recipes on this site.

It’s not hard to figure out why…with only 4 ingredients that get mixed together in a bowl with a spoon, rolled in powdered sugar and baked, it really doesn’t get much easier than this. No fancy equipment. Not to mention with the almonds there are more nutritional benefits to these than your average cookie. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself when I’m going for my fifth cookie. They’re also gluten-free and dairy-free friendly.

Sometimes great ideas pop into my head. Sometimes really awful ones, too, but I try to only filter the good ones here onto this blog, k? One day, I saw a half bag of pistachios in my cupboard. The first half had been ground into pistachio flour to make this Pistachio Cake with Honey Vanilla Buttercream for Christmas. Then I had an idea, what if I take the Paste di Mandorle recipe and replace part of the almond flour with pistachio flour?? So I did. And this recipe was born.

After the fact when all the cookies had been gobbled up within a couple hours, I wondered if maybe this recipe wasn’t original to me? It seemed too easy for no one else to have thought of this. Turns out these are definitely already a thing. Sicily is known not just for their almonds but also for their pistachios, especially the area of Bronte. Naturally, these pistachio cookies are a classic right alongside the almond ones.

The original Paste di Pistacchio Siciliane

The original recipe itself has a few variations, as I will list below. You can choose to implement any of the following as per your taste, or just follow the main recipe below, which is my favorite way of making it. Any way you go, you will have a scrumptious cookie that is not only unbelievably easy, but also an authentic Italian sweet!

Grind your own flour vs storebought flour. Some will instruct to grind your own almonds and pistachios. This not only gives you fresh nut flour, but it allows you to control how fine you grind it. Some advise against buying almond flour or pistachio flour from the store because it’s too thin. However, if you don’t have a food processor, spice grinder, coffee grinder or any other tool that will get the job done, I have used store bought flour and it turned out fine. No pun intended. ;)
Honey. I’d say most of the recipes claiming to be the original I’ve seen call for adding a bit of honey, anywhere from 10-20g. Honestly I don’t, but it would be easy to add if you truly want as close to the original as possible. If adding honey, use a bit less of the cane sugar.
Powdered sugar. Some recipes call for using powdered, others granulated. Others call for granulated but have you grind the sugar with the nuts, so you end up with powdered sugar anyway. I generally use granulated sugar and don’t grind, because I grind the nuts in a small electric coffee grinder and there isn’t room for the sugar. Either way you will have great results.
Cookie shape. The cookies can be shaped into the classic S shape (Roll dough into logs about the width of a finger, then slice into pieces about the length of half of an index finger, roll in powdered sugar, and use your fingers to shape into the S), ovals, or simply round cookies. I chose the round shape for the recipe below, as it’s the simplest. If you’d like to see the S shape, check out the pictures in this recipe.
Dough resting/refrigeration. Some will instruct to let the dough rest after you’ve shaped it so it will be less sticky. As with the almond cookies, if you’ve glanced or made that recipe, the refrigeration or resting is not strictly necessary. It allows the dough to dry out a bit, which means they retain their shapes better when baked. But if you’re going for the round or oval shape, there’s not much need.

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Here is one of the recipes I referenced in Italian and also gives a good visual of the “S” shaped cookie.

Paste di Pistacchio Siciliane - Sicilian Pistachio Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

125g whole unsalted almonds or almond flour
125g whole unsalted pistachios or pistachio flour
250g granulated sugar (or 230g granulated sugar and 20g honey)
2 / 60g egg whites
pinch of salt
powdered sugar, for rolling, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Using a food processor, spice grinder, or coffee grinder, grind the nuts until coarse. Small chunks are ok.
Mix all ingredients together, and form into balls or desired shape. Roll in powder sugar, if desired.
Place evenly spaced on ungreased cookie sheets. At this point cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or baked immediately.
Bake in preheated oven for about 8-12 minutes, or until cookies just start to turn golden.

Jenny’s Notes:

If working with a food processor or other tool large enough, you can grind the nuts with the sugar, creating powdered sugar in the process, as some recipes call for.
If the dough is too sticky, you can let it sit for an hour or refrigerate for several hours to let it thicken/dry out a bit.
This recipe is also delicious using all pistachio flour!

Italian dessert, Italian cookie, Sicilian dessert, Sicilian recipe, authentic Italian recipe, original Sicilian dessert recipe, pistachio, almond, gluten free, dairy free

dessert, cookies

Italian

Yield: 24

Author: Jennyblogs

Paste di Pistacchio Siciliane - Sicilian Pistachio Cookies

Traditional Sicilian sweets with a delightfully crunchy outside and chewy inside. Made with just 4-5 ingredients and naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 12 MinTotal time: 27 Min

Ingredients

125g whole unsalted almonds or almond flour
125g whole unsalted pistachios or pistachio flour
250g granulated sugar (or 230g granulated sugar and 20g honey)
2 / 60g egg whites
pinch of salt
powdered sugar, for rolling, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.
Using a food processor, spice grinder, or coffee grinder, grind the nuts until coarse. Small chunks are ok.
Mix all ingredients together, and form into balls or desired shape. Roll in powder sugar, if desired.
Place evenly spaced on ungreased cookie sheets. At this point cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or baked immediately.
Bake in preheated oven for about 8-12 minutes, or until cookies just start to turn golden.

Notes:

If working with a food processor or other tool large enough, you can grind the nuts with the sugar, creating powdered sugar in the process, as some Italian versions call for.
If the dough is too sticky, you can let it sit for an hour or refrigerate for several hours to let it thicken/dry out a bit.
This recipe is also delicious using all pistachio flour!

Calories

108.15

Fat (grams)

5.13

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.51

Carbs (grams)

14.12

Fiber (grams)

1.10

Net carbs

13.02