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Soft brown butter cookies that are loaded with pistachios, sandwiched with a thick layer of cherry ice cream.

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Two pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches stacked on one another.

pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches

Hellooooo I’m here today with a perfect summer cookie treat. We’re basically taking my pistachio chocolate chip cookies (which are perfection if you ask me) and making them even more perfect by sandwiching them with ice cream.

The cookies themselves aren’t just regular cookies with some crushed pistachios added into the dough – they’re a brown butter cookie that is partly made with pistachio flour *and* loaded with crushed pistachios for the maximum amount of pistachio flavor in every bite. After they’re baked off, we’re sandwiching them with cherry ice cream, because cherries and pistachios are a perfect and delicious flavor combo. So let’s get into the recipe!

  • They’re super flavorful: These cookies are LOADED with pistachio flavor, because we’re using a combination of pistachio flour and pistachios in the dough.
  • Easy to make: the cookie dough all comes together in one bowl – no hand mixer or stand mixer required.
  • Cookies + ice cream: I meaannnnn two cookies sandwiched with ice cream is just summer dessert perfection.
The pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches on a tray.

expert baking tips

Weigh your ingredients:

My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.

Mix the dough carefully:

When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Over mixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookies thicker and more tough in texture.

chill the cookies prior to baking

I know, I know – it’s frustrating to have to wait! However, because we’re using melted brown butter, we want to give the dough time to firm up. Letting the cookie dough chill just a little bit in the fridge means that the cookies will bake up thicker. This also gives the flavors a little bit of time to meld together.

Under bake for perfect cookies:

Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven. Once the edges turn slightly golden brown, and the cookies look just a little wet on top still, they are ready to come out. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

The secret to perfectly round cookies:

Wanna know the secret to perfectly round cookies? It’s cookie scooting! Right when the cookies come out of the oven, take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is just slightly larger than your cookies and place it over one of the cookies. Gently swirl the bowl around the cookie to make the cookie perfectly round (and slightly thicker). And that’s all there is to it!

A note on oven temperature:

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

A close up of the pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches
  • Pistachios: the star of the show! You’ll need some pistachios to turn into pistachio flour, and some to add in to the batter for texture and flavor. You could use roasted pistachios, lightly salted ones, or plain ones.
  • All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
  • Baking powder & baking soda: for helping the cookies rise.
  • Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
  • Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies. We’ll also be browning the butter for some extra delicious toasty flavor. If you’re looking to make this dairy-free, Miyoko’s Creamery vegan butter has the ability to brown just like regular butter and works like a charm.
  • Granulated sugar & light brown sugar: a combination of both gives us cookies with crispy edges and soft and chewy centers.
  • Egg: for binding and for moisture.
  • Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
  • White chocolate: for flavor but you could definitely sub in semi-sweet or dark chocolate as well. Please note that if you use all chocolate chips, the cookies will bake up a little thicker, and if you use all chopped chocolate, they will be a tad thinner.
  • Ice cream: I chose cherry ice cream because pistachios + cherries are a perfect match – but feel free to use your favorite flavor of ice cream here instead.

Here’s a little look into the process of making these pistachio cookie sandwiches. The full recipe is at the end of this blog post!

Brown butter in a saucepan.
The cookie dough after mixing together the butter and sugars.
  • Brown the butter by cooking it on the stovetop until it gets foamy and turns amber in color.
  • Let the butter cool, then mix in both sugars.
The cookie dough after mixing in the egg and vanilla.
The finished pistachio cookie dough in a mixing bowl.
  • Then mix in the egg and vanilla.
  • Mix in the dry ingredients until only a few flour streaks remain, then fold in the chocolate chips.
The pistachio cookies scooped out on to a baking tray.
The cherry ice cream in a square pan.
  • Chill for 30 minutes, then bake.
  • Stamp out rings of cherry ice cream and sandwich it between two cookies. Serve and enjoy!

pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches
recipe q&a

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is super simple to make so don’t worry! It’s just regular butter that is cooked on the stove until some of the moisture evaporates, allowing the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. The result is this butter with an amber hue and little speckles that has a toasted and slightly nutty aroma.

can I double this recipe?

Definitely – I’ve tested this recipe up to quadrupling it with no problem. Please be sure to use grams for the best results.

can I make these cookies ahead of time?

Definitely – cookie dough really only gets better with time. You can keep the cookie dough tightly covered in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking. For longer term storage, you can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Just be sure to take the dough out of the fridge at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to bake, so that it becomes soft enough to scoop again.

Store the assembled cookie ice cream sandwiches in an airtight container in the fridge.

close up of one of the pistachio cookie ice cream sandwiches

pistachio chocolate chip cookies troubleshooting

Measuring error: Typically, the #1 culprit for this is always not measuring the flour properly. If you use cup measurements, you run the risk of adding too much flour to the dough which can make it super dry. If you’re using cup measurements, make sure that you fluff up your flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup, rather than scooping up the flour with the measuring cup. Measuring will also be sure that you end up with the right amount of brown butter and that you cooked it for the proper amount of time.

Overmixing: if you over-mix the dough, you will introduce more gluten into the cookies which will lead to tougher, thicker cookies. Make sure to only fold in the flour just until that last streak of flour disappears into the dough.

Oven temperature: Like I said before, it’s possible that your oven isn’t at the temperature that it claims to be at – which is, unfortunately, more common than it should be. If your oven is hotter than 350F without your knowledge, you’ll end up with thicker, more dry cookies.

Chilling the dough: The #1 reason for this would be that you didn’t chill the cookie dough. Although it can be frustrating to wait, the cookie dough does need to chill to give time for the butter to firm up and the ingredients to meld together so that they don’t completely spread out in the oven.

Browning the butter: Another reason I recommend measuring your ingredients. When you brown the butter, moisture cooks off of it. So, if it wasn’t cooked for long enough then there would be extra moisture in the dough, which would make the cookies spread out more.

Oven temperature: It could also be that your oven temperature is running lower than it claims to be. For that reason, I recommend always using an oven thermometer. The one I use was ~$6 and is linked under “baking tools” in my amazon storefront below!

tools and ingredients:

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!

other recipes you might enjoy:

did you make this recipe?

I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery

Pistachio Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

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Soft brown butter pistachio cookies sandwiched with cherry ice cream.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time12 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 40 minutes
Servings6 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients 

  • 1.5 qt cherry ice cream (or your favorite flavor ice cream)

Brown Butter

  • 113 g unsalted butter (8 tbsp.)

Pistachio Flour

  • 55 g shelled pistachios (½ c.)

Pistachio Cookies

  • 100 g light brown sugar (½ c.)
  • 50 g granulated sugar (¼ c.)
  • 1 egg room temperature
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 130 g all purpose flour (1 c.)
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 110 g white chocolate* (⅔ c.)
  • 85 g shelled pistachios chopped or crushed (¾ c.)

Instructions 

  • (If you'd like to make perfect rings of ice cream, optional, but not required*) The night before making and assembling the cookie sandwiches, line an 8" square pan all around with plastic wrap. Scoop the cherry ice cream into the square pan and flatten it into an even layer. Set the ice cream in the freezer to set back up overnight.

Brown Butter

  • In a small saucepan set over medium heat, brown the butter. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks.
  • Transfer the brown butter to a medium sized mixing bowl and set it in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill. You should be left with 90g of brown butter, if you have a little less (2-3g), just add in some water until you reach 90g. In the meantime, make the pistachio flour.

Pistachio Flour

  • Add the pistachios to a food processor. Blend the pistachios until they're very fine and resemble flour. It won't get as fine as regular flour, but it will get very small. Be careful to not over-blend the pistachios, or you'll end up with pistachio butter!

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Once the butter has cooled down a bit, whisk in both sugars.
  • Whisk in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
  • Add in the flour, pistachio flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together just until a few flour streaks remain.
  • Add in the white chocolate and crushed pistachios and fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.**
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
  • Scoop out 3 tbsp. scoops of the cookie dough. (If you chilled the dough for longer, you may need to wait 10-20 minutes for it to become soft enough to scoop.)
  • Evenly space out the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and top them with extra chocolate.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown.
  • Once the cookies come out of the oven, I recommend "scooting" them. This just means take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie, place it on top of the cookie, and swirl the bowl around to make the cookie a little more round.
  • Let the cookies sit on the hot baking tray for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Once the cookies have completely cooled to room temperature, use a biscuit cutter to stamp out 3 inch circles of the frozen layer of cherry ice cream.
  • Flip half of the cookies over, place a circle of the ice cream on top of them, them top them with another cookie. Alternatively, scoop out a heaping scoop of ice cream, place it on top of the bottom half of the cookies, then gently spread the ice cream out with a spoon or knife before placing the other cookie on top of them. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Affiliate links: Kitchen Scale (my favorite) | Kitchen scale (great starter option) | | Oven Thermometer | Cookie Scoops | Cookie Sheet Pan | Milk Pan
*Use your favorite flavor ice cream here if you’re not a fan of cherry – I just love the pistachio/cherry combo. You can complete this step of spreading the ice cream into an even layer if you want to be able to just stamp out rings of ice cream to place on top of the cookies but it’s not required. You could also just scoop out the ice cream and spread it out on to the bottoms of the cookies later (as noted at the end of the recipe) You will only use about 1qt of ice cream overall – you will just need the full 1.5qt to get the layer of ice cream thick enough.
*I used valrhona feves for those melty pools of chocolate. The next best thing is using a chopped chocolate baking bar. Note that if you use chocolate chips the cookies may end up a bit thicker – you could also omit the chocolate completely, or use regular chocolate based on your preferences. 
**At this point you could transfer the dough balls to an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking, or in the freezer for 1 month.
The #1 culprit for cookies that are too thick, puffy or dry is adding in too much flour. I highly, *highly* recommend always using a kitchen scale for the best, most consistent results. However – if you don’t have access to one, here is how to properly measure flour: Fluff up your flour with a fork, then carefully scoop it into your measuring cup and level off the cup with a knife.

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