I love Easter baking; that is why I am always looking for fresh ways to bake up Easter joy, and this easy recipe is a hit! This year, have a wonderful Easter breakfast with delectable coffee and an adorable Easter Cut-Out Cookie with Pistachio Ganache!
Easter is the most joyous time of year. It’s a time of blossoming and rebirth and that calls for a major celebration. That is why every year, I go all out with decorations, drinks, and, of course, treats!
This super easy recipe for Easter Cut Out Cookies with Pistachio Cream is one of my favorite springtime recipes! They are easy enough to make after work but so loaded with sweet, nutty flavors that shine at celebrations; plus, their fun Easter appearance puts everyone in the holiday spirit!
🥘 Ingredients
- Butter: You will need butter for the ganache. Choose your favorite brand of unsalted butter for these treats.
- Margarine: Margarine has a rich, satisfying texture, similar to shortening, but with a more delicious buttery flavor.
- AP Flour: All-purpose flour is made by grinding a blend of hard and soft wheat together. This creates the perfect balance of gluten and texture for a wide range of baked goods. It's a versatile ingredient that every baker should have in their pantry.
- Granulated Sugar: This sweetener gives the cookies a super satisfying crisp. Use granulated white sugar or granulated cane sugar for a more natural taste.
- Vanilla Sugar: Vanilla sugar is one of my favorite homemade hacks. It’s super easy to make, and it adds loads of delicious flavor!
- Kosher Salt: A pinch of kosher salt makes the sweet ingredients taste even better!
- Ground Almonds: The sweet nutty flavor of almonds makes these cut-out cookies totally unique and unforgettable. You can even make this ingredient yourself by pulsing almonds in your food processor.
- Water: A hint of water helps this crumbly dough come together.
- White Chocolate Chips: These sweet morsels make a great base for the pistachio ganache.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream smooths out the ganache and gives it a rich, creamy flavor.
- Vanilla: Use vanilla extract or pulp from a vanilla bean to bring a sweet aroma and flavor to the nutty cream.
- Pistachio Paste: Pistachio paste serves up a ton of concentrated pistachio flavor, and it makes this ganache green and delicious! Look for this amazing ingredient in the baking aisle near the extracts.
See the recipe card for quantities.
🔪 Instructions
Step One: Place the flour, sugars, salt, and almonds in a bowl. Form a well in the center.
Step Two: Cut the butter into the well and gently mix it in.
Step Three: Add the water and knead the dough until it comes together nicely. Wrap the dough tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Step Four: Preheat the oven and line the baking trays.
Step Five: Generously flour a clean workspace. Roll out in thirds. The ideal thickness is ⅛ inch.
Step Six: Cut out all the cookies. Use the Easter cookie cutter to remove the centers from half of the cookies.
Step Seven: Bake the cookies until golden brown and then cool completely before filling.
Step Eight: Make the ganache. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. Combine the remaining ganache ingredients and then warm them up. Pour the heavy cream mixture over the melted chocolate.
Step Nine: Beat with a mixer until well mixed. Cover the surface of the mixture with plastic wrap and then chill for at least 1 hour.
Step Ten: After chilling, assemble the cookies. Fill a piping bag with softened pistachio ganache.
Step Eleven: Pipe the ganache onto the full cookies and then top it with a cut-out cookie to make a beautiful Easter cookie sandwich!
Enjoy!
🥃 Substitutions
- Vegan: Make the ganache vegan by replacing the white chocolate and dairy ingredients with their plant-based alternatives.
- Alcohol: You can make the ganache filling with vanilla extract or boozy with whiskey.
🍽 Equipment
- Lined Baking Sheet and Cooling Rack: Get ready for perfect cookies by lining the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Grab a cookie cooling rack for when the treats are done.
- Mixer and Bowl: You can use a stand or hand mixer for this recipe. Fit the mixer with a dough hook attachment.
- Plastic Wrap
- Rolling Pin
- Easter Linzer Cookie Cutter: Give these a fun Easter appearance by using egg, bunny, or carrot-shaped cookie cutters.
- Piping Bag and Star Tip: I love using a Wilton 4B tip to uniformly fill these beautiful Easter treats.
- Microwave-Safe Bowls: For melting the chocolate.
💭 Top tips
- Every dough is a little different, so when you’re kneading, watch the texture. Add more water or flour as needed to bring it together.
- Remember to rotate the cookies mid-bake when baking two sheets at a time.
- You can make both the dough and the ganache the night before baking. Chill them in the fridge until you’re ready. The ganache will become firm but you can microwave it for up to 1 minute to soften it or beat it with a mixer until it’s nice and pipable.
🙋🏻 FAQ
These treats are ideal for Easter brunch or springtime desserts. Pair them with coffee, tea, or a light and fizzy springtime cocktail!
If you don’t finish all the cookies in one sitting, store the extras in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for up to 5 days.
The wonderful pistachio ganache filling in these cookies has a lovely light green hue, but if you want to amp up the green color (which isn't really necessary), add a drop of food coloring to the ganache.
This easy recipe makes about 23 delicious Easter cookies.
Other Recipes for You to Try
- Vegan Easter Cookies with Apricot Jam
- Cookies n Cream Blossom Cookies
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Sugar Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Linzer Cookies with Egg Liqueur
- Matcha White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- M&M Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Vanilla Ice Cream (made with leftover chocolate Easter bunnies)
- Best Way to Make Iced Coffee
- Boozy Milkshake {with Cointreau}
- Unstirred Vanilla Iced Coffee
If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also sign up for our Newsletter or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.
📖 Recipe
Delicious Cut-Out Cookies with Pistachio Ganache
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Hand or stand mixer
- Cling film
- Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment paper/silicone mat
- Easter Linzer cookie cutter
- Microwave-safe bowls
Ingredients
Ingredients Cookies
- 10.6 oz Flour
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon Vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch Kosher salt
- 1 cup Ground almonds
- 8.82 oz Margarine
- 3 tablespoon Water
Ingredients for pistachio ganache
- 10 oz White chocolate chips
- ½ cup Heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract can be replaced with Whiskey or Rum for a boozy ganache
- 2 tablespoon Pistachio paste
Instructions
Dough
- Place 10.6 oz Flour, ½ cup Granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon Vanilla sugar, 1 pinch Kosher salt, and 1 cup Ground almonds in a bowl and form a mold in the middle.10.6 oz Flour, ½ cup Granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon Vanilla sugar, 1 pinch Kosher salt, 1 cup Ground almonds
- Cut 8.82 oz Margarine into pieces and pour into the well.8.82 oz Margarine
- Mix lightly with your hands.
- Add 3 tablespoon Water and knead into a dough using a food processor (dough hook).3 tablespoon Water
- Then wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Cutouts
- Preheat the oven to 170°C / 338°F fan and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Spread some flour on the work surface and roll out ⅓ of the dough to 3 mm / ⅛ inch. Keep the remaining dough in the fridge until needed.
- Cut out Easter cookies using the cookie cutter. Always make sure that there are the same number of cookies with and without the Easter motif so that there are no problems when assembling.
- Bake the cut-out cookies for 10-12 minutes.
- Once baked, transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool.
Pistachio Ganache
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up 10 oz White chocolate chips in 40-second intervals while mixing between each interval until the chocolate is molten.10 oz White chocolate chips
- In a measuring cup (plastic or glass) heat up ½ cup Heavy cream, 1 tablespoon Butter, 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoon Pistachio paste until they are hot (about 60-80 C).½ cup Heavy cream, 1 tablespoon Butter, 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon Pistachio paste
- When they heat up well, pour them over the molten chocolate.
- Use a mixer to combine everything well together, then cover with cling film, and chill in a fridge for 1-2h or overnight if you wanna assemble the cookies the next day.
Assemble
- Beat the pistachio ganache with a mixer until soft and fill it into a piping bag with a tip (I used Wilton 4B).
- Pipe the pistachio ganache onto the cookies without the Easter motif.
- Then place the cookies with the Easter motif on top and press them together lightly.
- Arrange the filled cookies and serve.
Notes
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
⛑️ Food Safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For further information, check Safe Food Handling - FDA.
DK says
This is such a creative idea! Not only are these cookies delicious, but they were so much fun to make! My daughter and I had a blast!
Nora says
That is awesome! So glad you had so much fun! 🙂
Stephanie says
These Easter cookies are delightful! The pistachio flavor really comes through and the cookie has the perfect crunch. I can imagine making these for other holidays - St. Patrick's, Christmas, etc....
Nora says
That is an amazing idea! Thank you, Stephanie!
Nicole says
These look so fun and festive. Pistachio filling sounds great. This is a must try recipe.
Nora says
Thank you, Nicole! Let me know how they turned out for you!
Claudia Cristina Ciorteanu says
Your Easter cut-out cookies with pistachio ganache sound absolutely delightful! Such a creative and festive treat. Can't wait to bake these beauties and indulge in that delicious pistachio goodness. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Nora says
Thank you, Claudia! Let me know how you liked them!
DJ says
Love the pistachio paste in this recipe. I've never even thought of that. So delish.
Nora says
Thank you so much!