These high altitude tested, soft and chewy apricot pistachio cookies, dipped in brown butter icing, are delicious any time of year. And you can customize this recipe for the holidays with your favorite combination of dried fruit and nuts.
You might also love these recipes for soft maple cookies, Swedish butter dream cookies, and raspberry almond linzer cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Mixer Needed. These easy, high altitude pistachio cookies come together quickly with no mixer needed.
Versatile Recipe. Besides pistachios and apricots, you can use other combinations of dried fruit and nuts, such as cherries, cranberries, apples, walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Dairy and Fridge: unsalted butter, egg
- Pantry: granulated sugar, light brown sugar, powdered sugar, all purpose flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda, vanilla extract.
- Pistachios. I used salted, shelled pistachios to save time on having to shell the nuts.
- Dried Apricots.
- Meringue Powder. Note that the meringue powder will help the icing set and remain set, rather than sticky to the touch.
Instructions
Cookies
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar, until well combined. Then whisk in the vanilla extract and the egg, until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, salt and baking soda, until everything is evenly distributed.
- Using a small food processor or Ninja (or just a sharp chef’s knife), chop the pistachios and apricots into small pieces no bigger than 1/4 inch.
- Add the flour mixture, chopped pistachios and apricots to the wet ingredients, and stir everything together with a spatula until you have a soft dough.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp capacity) to scoop 18-20 portions of dough. Don’t roll the dough balls smooth with your hands – you want the surface to be a little rough and craggy. Just flatten the tops of the dough balls with your fingers.
- Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap, and chill for 25 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Space the chilled cookies several inches apart on the baking sheet, baking half at a time, and keeping the rest refrigerated until needed. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and light golden brown, and the centers of the cookies are no longer gooey.
- Cool for several minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
Icing (optional)
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for several minutes until nutty, golden brown solids form at the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove from the heat.
- Add the browned butter, vanilla and water to the powdered sugar mixture, and whisk until smooth and drizzly.
- To dip the cookies, turn a cookie over so that the top is facing down. Holding the cookie by the edges, lightly dip it in the icing, shake off the excess, and set on a baking sheet. Repeat with all the cookies.Note: You don’t want to fully submerge the top of the cookies in the icing. Just lightly dip them so that the rough bumps and ridges on top of the cookies catch the icing, with plenty of gaps in between.
- If you like, sprinkle the icing with a little more chopped pistachios before it dries.
- The icing will set and dry to the touch within a few minutes, and will stay a little soft underneath. Let dry for several hours before storing the cookies in an airtight container. Separate each layer of cookies with wax paper, so that the top cookies don’t stick to the icing underneath.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3-6 months.
I used salted pistachios, but if the nuts you use are unsalted, add 1/4 additional teaspoon of coarse Kosher salt to the cookie dough.
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High Altitude Iced Apricot Pistachio Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Medium Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (@ 2 tbsp capacity)
Ingredients
Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp corn starch
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup salted shelled pistachios
- ⅓ cup dried apricots
Icing (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp meringue powder
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp water
Instructions
Cookies
- In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar, until well combined. Then whisk in the vanilla extract and the egg, until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, corn starch, salt and baking soda, until everything is evenly distributed.
- Using a small food processor or Ninja (or just a sharp chef's knife), chop the pistachios and apricots into small pieces no bigger than 1/4 inch.
- Add the flour mixture, chopped pistachios and apricots to the wet ingredients, and stir everything together with a spatula until you have a soft dough.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp capacity) to scoop 18-20 portions of dough. Don't roll the dough balls smooth with your hands – you want the surface to be a little rough and craggy. Just flatten the tops of the dough balls with your fingers.
- Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap, and chill for 25 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Space the chilled cookies several inches apart on the baking sheet, baking half at a time, and keeping the rest refrigerated until needed. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges are set and light golden brown, and the centers of the cookies are no longer gooey.
- Cool for several minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.
Icing (optional)
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and meringue powder.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for several minutes until nutty, golden brown solids form at the bottom of the pan. Immediately remove from the heat.
- Add the browned butter, vanilla and water to the powdered sugar mixture, and whisk until smooth and drizzly.
- To dip the cookies, turn a cookie over so that the top is facing down. Holding the cookie by the edges, lightly dip it in the icing, shake off the excess, and set on a baking sheet. Repeat with all the cookies.Note: You don't want to fully submerge the top of the cookies in the icing. Just lightly dip them so that the rough bumps and ridges on top of the cookies catch the icing, with plenty of gaps in between.
- If you like, sprinkle the icing with a little more chopped pistachios before it dries.
- The icing will set and dry to the touch within a few minutes, and will stay a little soft underneath. Let dry for several hours before storing the cookies in an airtight container. Separate each layer of cookies with wax paper, so that the top cookies don't stick to the icing underneath.
Notes
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