Pistachio Choc Chip Cookies/Biscuits

I feel for the pistachio farmers who surely cannot keep up with the current demand!  I did read that the people in countries like Türkiye and Iran (the top producers and consumers) are finding it rather difficult to produce enough, and to obtain the nutty ingredients (at a fair price) for their own cuisine.  And honestly, I think there are other nuts with way more taste and interest, in my mind (and tastebuds).  But anyways, don't mind my ramblings - these are delicious, my friends.

This is a recipe from Donna Hay's lovely new-ish cookbook Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt, reflecting her love of modern coastal living and cooking.  She lives on the New South Wales coast, and she wanted this cookbook to show her love of the beach, and sunny days.  Her signature colour is blue (her homewares range are mostly blue), which is a fave colour of mine too. Oops, this sounds like an ad.  Nope, just me enjoying her recipes and accoutrements.

these didn't last long!

Makes 12:

Ingredients:

120g./4.2 oz pistachio spread    see Notes

335g./12 oz plain flour

1.5 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

1 tsp cornflour

180g./6.5 oz brown sugar

110g./4 oz caster sugar

225g./8 oz butter, chopped and left to sit out for a bit to soften

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

250g./9 oz milk chocolate, chopped

150g./5.3 oz toasted pistachios, chopped

pistachios

Method:

Line a small baking tray with baking paper

Scoop/spoon out 12 x 1.5 teaspoons of the pistachio spread and place them on the baking tray in delightful little mounds or balls

Freeze for an hour, or till nicely firm (took about 2 hours here)

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

Grab a mixing bowl, and your whisk, and throw in the flour, baking powder, bi-carb soda and cornflour

Whisk well, then set aside while you grab another mixing bowl, and beat the 2 sugars and butter together - Donna says for 8 minutes, or till light and fluffy    see Notes 

Now beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla and salt for 3-4 minutes till beautifully incorporated

Then add in the flour mixture bit by bit, beating but not over-beating

And chuck in the chocolate and nuts, and stir!   see Notes

Being in muggy Brisbane, I decided to put the dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up, before rolling it out into 12 rounds of about 1/2 cupful/110g./4 oz, and flattening slightly   see Notes

Your frozen nutty paste balls get pressed into each of the rounds of dough, which you gather around to enclose the paste

Now place the nutty doughy rounds onto 2 large baking trays lined with baking paper, allowing plenty of room between them - Donna says to leave 10cm/4 inches between each cookie!

Bake for 12-14 minutes (or 16 in my oven), till the edges are lightly golden-brown

Cool 'em on the trays, and enjoy

you guessed it!

Notes:

Pistachio spread is sweetened, whereas pistachio paste is just the ground pistachios

Donna says to use a stand mixer; I don't have one so used my electric hand beaters, and for a few less minutes than 8.  And it was just fine!

I used a mixture of white, and dark, and Lindt milk chocolate rather than all milk chocolate

Donna says to freeze the cookie dough rounds overnight if you want fudgier cookies!

My dough was so soft, I could not roll it out, so had to use spoons to shape it, then put them back in the fridge again to firm up.  I should have shoved 'em in the freezer for a bit, I guess

ingredients gathered

spoon/scoop out the pistachio paste onto the trays

beat the sugars and butter together

eggs and flour mixture in; ready for the choc chips and nuts

stir in the chocolate and nuts

get ready to enclose the frozen pistachio paste

golden-brown goodness

oozy and chocolatey

dive in!

baking soda aka bi-carb soda

make sure it's within date! No old baking powder here!

Lemon (and Lime) Chutney

Winter is a-coming, and citrus season will be bouncing along soon.  I love me a bit of citrus, and I love some chutney, so here is a lemon and lime chutney I made.  (Don't tell, but I actually made this one last winter.)

The fruit trees in neighbours' yards are full of lovely lemons at the moment, and I am very tempted to grab some.  I could always knock on their doors, and suggest sharing some produce and homemade goodies, of course.    

We are very lucky in our street to have wonderfully community-minded folk around us.  One neighbour - I'll call him Mr B. - moves the rubbish bins in and out for us (and our doctor neighbour Ms. M) on rubbish day.  And we often share produce and cakes and so on.  I handed out some of the blueberry-lemon loaf I made last week to a couple of neighbours, and in return Ms. P gave us some Basque cheesecake - delicious!  Oh yes, Mr B. also mows the lawns for us and the young doctor.  We are very lucky!

citrus-y, tangy and sweet!

(Gives you 3 x 150g./5.3 oz jars, says Karon: I only ended up with 2!)

Recipe by Karon Grieve from Larder Love blog:

ingredients:

500g./18 oz lemons, zested   see Notes

125g./4.5 oz onions, peeled and chopped    see Notes

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs EV olive oil

250g./9 oz apples, peeled and chopped

125g./4.5 oz sultanas

1/2 tsp chilli, chopped  (I used 1-2 dried chillies)

1/2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp sea salt

350 mL/12 oz cider vinegar

225g./8 oz white sugar

garlic bulb

Method:

Peel the fruit, and zest it (or chop finely), then roughly chop the flesh

Tip the flesh only at this point into your food processor, and give it a good pulsing 

Sauté the chopped onions (in a heavy-based saucepan) in the heated olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and the chopped apples - and cook (on a low to medium heat) for 10 minutes till tender

Now add the lemon zest/peel and the zapped lemon flesh, the sultanas, the chilli, the ginger, the salt and HALF of the vinegar

Simmer for about 30 minutes till the peel is tender

You then add the other half of the vinegar, and also the sugar into the pan

Stir the mixture till the sugar is dissolved and the chutney has thickened

Pour/spoon into very clean jars, and let it mature for a fortnight

(Can be kept for a year, says Karon, and use within a month of opening)

zest that lime - or lemon!

Notes:

I used a mix of lemons and limes, so do as you please :=)

Peel the onions, then weigh them out to the required amount

lemon!

fresh ginger root

ingredients gathered

sauté and stir the onions, garlic and apples

simmer till tender

and spoon into some sterilised jars ...

red chillies

In My Kitchen - April 2026

April??  April?!  Yep, you snuck up on me, that's for sure.  And what a month you're going to be.  Easter, birthdays, hospital treatment for the hubby, visiting friends and family, writing competitions ...  Heads down, bums up!  You know the picture.  So let's get into it (as the YouTubers say - hehehe ...).

a bonus photo of this wonderful sculpture by Andy Scott!

I can hardly believe that there is a sculpture by this world-famous artist in tiny little Boonah, an hour west of Brisbane!  This region was well-known for its Clydesdale horses, and Andy Scott himself came out here for the annual Clydesdale Spectacular Festival a year or two back.  I may have shared a photo of this before, but it's always worth a second look.  One day I will get to see his The Kelpies in Scotland.

In My Kitchen:

 

bought some Kangaroo Island goodies

and a cookbook

and there was yuzu vinegar, delicious shoyu and a metal spoon!

you know how I love a fishy plate!

grabbed some Mingle seasonings

gifts from our Tassie friends

One of our Tassie friends was up recently, and she gifted us a jar of her homemade apricot jam.  How delightful.

I bought some Easter treats for Mr P. (he loves white chocolate)

bought some things!

My cousin from Melbourne was staying, so we took her on a country drive to our fave little towns of Kalbar and Boonah in the Scenic Rim.  We always stop by the fruit and veg. shop in Boonah, to buy some local treats.  The peanut butter is 99% peanuts!

and a tumbler!

My niece organised a craft fair on the weekend, with over 70 vendors.  There were a few ceramicists, so I bought this one from a lovely lady.  We gifted it to our new neighbour, the young doctor.  She said she now has 3 tumblers/cups, all of which came from us :=)

relishes from a Church stall

My cousin and I went down the shops, where we spied some lovely ladies from a local church selling all sorts of homemade goodies.  So we bought these.  And only $4 each!  (This church does so much good for charities, etc.)

another Emma Bridgewater - this one is broccoli.  I am still hunting up the eggplant one

I made walnut butter biscuits for Bookclub

the curveball - another gorgeous piece by Terina Smith Recycling Artist!

I adore that little inkwell!  Terina makes the most beautiful copper flowers, which sit inside the sweet little inkwells and bottles that she finds.  I had to add the new and blue one to my desk!

So that's it for this IMK post.  Mmm, rather more than I expected!  Please join in, everyone.  We so look forward to your posts each month.

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

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Sablés Korova

Who doesn't love a chocolate biscuit full of dark chocolate chips?  Especially when they are dark and sandy, like their name.  I seem to be making a lot of chocolatey biscuits lately - and a good thing too.  So here we have another recipe made for Cookbook Club.  We were using Emelia Jackson's cookbook Some of my best friends are Cookies.  (Love that title!)  And this is a beauty.  She has some really fabulous recipes in her book.    

These are called sablé due to their sandy texture, that being the French word for sand.  And indeed the texture is very sandy!  Speaking of sand, that reminds me of a Texan lady currently living in Brisbane - Lex in Wonderland.  I really enjoy her Instagram account, as she describes all the differences and things she loves about life in Australia.  

One of the things she mentions is seeing accessible beach matting here in Queensland.  She was amazed when her husband told her what it was for - i.e. allowing disabled people, people in wheelchairs, or with baby strollers and so on, access to the beach!  My disabled hubby for instance finds it very hard to walk on sand, so this is a wonderful thing for many!       

dark and mysterious!

(Recipe by Emelia Jackson: Some of my best friends are Cookies:)

(Start this one early - or the day before, as it has to be refrigerated for some hours, or overnight)

Makes 16:

ingredients:

200g./7 oz plain flour

45g./1.5 oz dark cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

120g./4.25 oz butter, softened

180g./6 oz brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp vanilla extract

150g./5.5 oz dark chocolate chips

I love vanilla!

Method:

Put the flour, cocoa and bi-carb into a large mixing bowl, and give it a good whisking

Now either use your stand mixer or just electric beaters as I do, and put the butter, brown sugar, salt and vanilla into a mixing bowl, and beat till softened and well-mixed (Emelia says on medium-low speed if using a stand mixer) 

Now add the flour and cocoa mixture to the buttery mixture, and mix till just combined (Emelia says it will look sandy) - I finished mixing it with a spatula!

Add the chocolate chips, and mix them in - don't worry about its sandy, clumpy appearance, says our mate Emelia

Grab some clingfilm/plastic wrap, and line your bench with it

And now dump the sablé mixture onto the clingfilm, form a log shape, and roll it firmly in the plastic wrap - you want to end up with a 30cm/12 inch log

Wrap it in another layer of clingfilm if you feel the need to enforce the log shape :=)

And into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight (or whack the dough into the freezer, and bake from frozen)

The next day: turn on your oven to 160C/315F fan-forced to heat up

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper

Slice the dough into 1cm/0.5 inch (or thicker if you please) pieces, and place on your trays

Bake for 12-13 minutes till dry and set    see  Notes

Cool completely on the trays

Notes:

I used half black cocoa and half Dutch cocoa to give them a lovely dark colour

And I used dark brown sugar, and a mix of 175g. regular plain flour plus 25g. wholemeal plain flour

I rebelled and used 2 tsp of vanilla, and salted butter (she says to use unsalted but you know that's the Devil's work!)

I ended up baking mine at 180C/350F fan-forced (I think) for 20 minutes! - but my gas oven is a bit old and cranky, like me :)

use some wholemeal flour too, for healthy:=)

ingredients gathered

flour mixture goes into the butter mixture

stir in the chocolate chips

yep, I know what you're thinking :=)

slicing it up

and into the oven

looking different :) but ready to eat

I took some to our local bookshop

As I often do, I took along some of these to the gals at our local bookshop Quick Brown Fox!  Only Theresa was in, so she was left with an ethical dilemma.  What to do? what to do? - hehehe ...