Bright, buttery, and bursting with citrusy charm, these Lemon Pistachio Cookies are a zesty twist on a classic shortbread treat. With crunchy pistachios, creamy white chocolate, and a tangy lemon glaze, they’re equal parts elegant and irresistible.
Buttery, Simple Lemon Cookies
These Lemon Pistachio Cookies shocked me—in the best way. Bright, zippy lemon meets buttery, crumbly shortbread with a pop of crunch from the pistachios and a subtle sweetness from shaved white chocolate. I knew they’d be good, but I didn’t expect them to be this addictive.
They’ve got that melt-in-your-mouth texture with just enough tang of lemon flavor that kept me reaching for another. These are the perfect cookies with a cup of coffee or tea, a little sunshine, or as a gift for someone who deserves something extra.
And if lemon is your love language, you might also swoon over my Dairy-Free Lemon Bars or my Lemon Zucchini Cake too—equally citrusy and full of feel-good flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter – A necessity for shortbread. I used unsalted.
- Powdered Sugar – Powdered helps with the soft cookie texture.
- Lemon – The recipe calls for lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract (can sub with almond extract)
- Flour – I used all purpose. I’ve not tested any alternatives.
- Pistachios – The pistachio flavor isn’t overpowering in this recipe. It provides a little bit to the taste and a little bit to the texture for the most delicious cookie.
- White Chocolate Chips – Adds the perfect balance or rich sweetness.
- Frosting – The icing is made up of confectioners’ sugar, milk, 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice, and fresh lemon peel zest.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine room temperature butter (key!) and powdered sugar. Beat together until completely creamed together (scrape the sides of the bowl if needed). Add in lemon extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat again until smooth.
2. Pour in the all purpose flour and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms. Fold in the chopped pistachios and white chocolate. Spin the mixer a few times to disperse but not over mix.
3. Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on your work surface, and dump the dough onto the plastic wrap.
4. Use your hands to form the dough into a long long shape, roughly 1.5” in diameter. The skinnier the log, the more cookies you’ll be able to make, they’ll just be smaller in diameter. If the dough log is too long, cut it in half for easy storage in the refrigerator.
5. Fold the plastic wrap tightly around the dough and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the plastic wrap from the chilled dough. Use a straight sharp knife to cut even cookies, roughly 1cm thick. Depending on size, you should end with around 30 small cookies.
7. Place cookie dough rounds on a parchment lined cookie sheet pan (they will not expand while baking so no need to place far apart). Bake cookies for 12-16 minutes or until centers are firm (the shortbread cookie will change colors from a yellow to more of a white when baked. You will know they’re done when the edges are golden brown. Keep a close eye on them as bake times will vary oven to oven.
8. Once the cookies are baked, make the glaze. Combine all ingredients and beat together on low speed (either stand mixer or hand electric mixer) if the glaze seems to thick, add milk in 1 tsp increments until desired consistency is reached. Avoid adding too much liquid as we need the glaze to harden on the shortbread cookie!
9. After the cookies have cooled, use a spoon to add ½ tbsp of sweet lemon glaze onto each cooking. Opt to drizzle the glaze if you want to take a more artistic approach. Garnish with fresh lemon zest and/or chopped pistachios. Wait ~10 minutes while the icing sets and enjoy!
PRO TIPS
You MUST chill the dough. It’s how the cookie holds its shape without any egg added.
Cookie Storage and Freezing 🍪
These can be stored in an airtight container either on the counter or the refrigerator if you like a chewy, chilled cookie. In your storage container, add a piece of bread (I like to use the end piece of a loaf). The cookies will draw out the moisture from the bread and keep your cookies soft.
You can also freeze these cookies baked or unbaked.
- To freeze unbaked dough, scoop, roll in the sugar and place on a cookie sheet as if you’re going to bake them. Place the entire cookie sheet in the freezer for 3-4 hours until each dough ball is frozen (this’ll prevent them from sticking together). Then, place in a Ziplock or airtight container until ready to bake. You can bake the dough balls from frozen for 2-3 extra minutes.
- To freeze baked cookies, allow them to cool completely before adding to a freezer bag or airtight container. I recommend layering parchment paper between each cookie stack. This will prevent the cookies from freezing altogether.
Recipe FAQs
The centers of these cookies should just slightly start to turn golden brown. When you see the color change pull them out immediately, even if the centers are still soft, as they will continue to set when removed from the oven.
It will depend on when you pulled them from the oven. If the edges have not browned at all, you can let cool directly on the baking sheet as the warm pan will continue to bake the cookie all the way through. If you edges are brown and the center is obviously set, consider moving to a wire rack so you don’t end up with crispy cookies.
A knife and cutting board work fine, but a quicker method that I like to use is a few pulses in the food processor. It takes less than 30 seconds and you’ve got a perfect rough chop!
Serving suggestions
I picture serving these lemon pistachio shortbread cookies as the perfect treat at a summer tea party along side some Mediterranean pinwheels, Lemon Dill Feta Dip and some of my Zucchini Snacking Cake.
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Lemon Pistachio Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Plastic wrap
- knife & cutting board
- cookie sheet
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 tsp lemon extract, can sub w/ almond extract
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 4 tsp lemon juice, ~1 lemon juiced
- pinch salt
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup lightly salted pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, shaved
Lemon icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp milk
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine room temperature butter (key!) and powdered sugar. Beat together until completely creamed together (scrape the sides of the bowl if needed).
- Add in lemon extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat again until smooth.
- Pour in the all purpose flour and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Fold in the chopped pistachios and white chocolate. Spin the mixer a few times to disperse but not over mix.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on your work surface, and dump the dough onto the plastic wrap.
- Use your hands to form the dough into a long long shape, roughly 1.5” in diameter. The skinnier the log, the more cookies you’ll be able to make, they’ll just be smaller in diameter. If the dough log is too long, cut it in half for easy storage in the refrigerator.
- Fold the plastic wrap tightly around the dough and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the plastic wrap from the chilled dough. Use a straight sharp knife to cut even cookies, roughly 1cm thick. Depending on size, you should end with around 30 small cookies.
- Place cookie dough rounds on a parchment lined cookie sheet pan (they will not expand while baking so no need to place far apart). Bake cookies for 12-16 minutes or until centers are firm (the shortbread cookie will change colors from a yellow to more of a white when baked. You will know they’re done when the edges are golden brown. Keep a close eye on them as bake times will vary oven to oven.
- Once the cookies are baked, make the glaze. Combine all ingredients and beat together on low speed (either stand mixer or hand electric mixer) if the glaze seems to thick, add milk in 1 tsp increments until desired consistency is reached. Avoid adding too much liquid as we need the glaze to harden on the shortbread cookie!
- After the cookies have cooled, use a spoon to add ½ tbsp of sweet lemon glaze onto each cooking. Opt to drizzle the glaze if you want to take a more artistic approach. Garnish with fresh lemon zest and/or chopped pistachios. Wait ~10 minutes while the icing sets and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find Lemon Pistachio Cookies calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
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These are incredible! So easy to made ahead of time and bake before guests come over.
these reminded me of cookies I would always get with my mom when we would go to tea when i was younger! loved them
Perfect texture and super easy to make! Will make again!