Rhubarb is the first produce to be harvested from my garden and is one of the springtime treats I most look forward to each year. I have developed a lot of recipes using rhubarb and, today, present my recipe for Rhubarb and Pistachio Cookies with White Chocolate Chips. These are tasty drop cookies that are loaded with complementary flavors.
For this recipe, you will want to use young, tender, very thin (dare I say almost spindly), rhubarb stalks, no more than about ¼“ – 1/3” wide. The rhubarb should be sliced into pieces about ¼“ – 1/3” wide. I do not recommend slicing wide stalks of rhubarb into thinner strips for this recipe as the more cut sides there are to the rhubarb, the more it will likely bleed, changing the color of the dough, and the more moisture the rhubarb will release into the cookie dough, potentially resulting in soggy cookies.
Big chunks of rhubarb are not desirable in this recipe for a couple of reasons. First, it would take too long for them to soften in the oven (causing the cookies to be overbaked and dry by the time the rhubarb was cooked) and, second, rhubarb is notorious for being wet and no one likes a big wet soggy spot in the middle of a lovely textured cookie. The small rhubarb pieces should stay intact and hold their identifiable shape in these cookies as shown in the photo below.
Frozen rhubarb is not recommended for this recipe because of the excess moisture it contains which will, potentially, make wet, doughy cookies. Plan to make these Rhubarb and Pistachio Cookies with White Chocolate Chips in the springtime, using fresh young tender rhubarb.
This recipe calls for 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) of coconut flour. Not only does it lend wonderful flavor but coconut flour is known to be an absorber of liquid in a recipe so it takes care of any wetness that the rhubarb might impart.
Coconut flour is commonly used in gluten-free baking and is one of my most favorite flours to bake with, if for no other reason than its lovely flavor. If coconut flour is not a flour you commonly use in baking, and you wish to make these cookies, I suggest heading to your nearest bulk food store and buying just the small amount needed for this recipe. While only 1/8 cup may seem like a small insignificant amount, coconut flour is an important and key ingredient in this recipe for the reasons above noted. For this reason, I do not recommend leaving coconut flour out of the recipe or substituting another for it.
White chocolate chips are called for in this recipe. I used mini white chocolate chips in the cookies in the photographs but regular-sized white chips can also be used.
Pistachios are a great companion to rhubarb and I used slightly less than ½ cup chopped pistachios in this recipe.
The recipe calls for both butter and shortening. Both have their advantages and benefits in certain cookie recipes like this one and readers are directed here for information that explains this.
Be careful of overmixing the cookie dough, especially once the dry ingredients are added to the fat, egg, and sugar mixture. This is because overmixing will stir up the gluten in the flour which can lead to tough textured cookies. Mix the dough barely enough that the dry ingredients are incorporated with the wet ingredients.
One of the most important steps in making these cookies is to refrigerate the dough for at least two hours prior to baking to allow the butter and shortening to firm up before the cookies go into the oven. We all know that room temperature fats cream and integrate best with other cookie ingredients but they are notorious for melting as soon as the cookies go in the oven, causing the cookies to spread and bake flat. The hardened fats give the cookies a chance to develop their shape and start baking before the fats have time to melt. I do not recommend skipping this step.
If you have the time, I highly recommend leaving the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. This is known as resting or ripening time which gives the eggs time to absorb into, and hydrate, the dry ingredients. Additionally, it allows time for the dough flavor to develop. Typically, this step contributes to well-risen, puffy, and tender textured cookies. You can read more about this by clicking here.
For uniform sized cookies, I recommend using a cookie scoop that holds about 1 1/8 oz dough. That is what was used for the cookies in the photos in this post. That should yield, give or take, in the vicinity of 30-32 cookies. If you don’t have a specific cookie scoop, scooping up the dough by tablespoonful also works.
If the dough is particularly hard when it comes out of the refrigerator to the point that it can’t be scooped or spooned without chibbling it, let it rest at room temperature for 10 – 15 minutes. It is important, however, not to allow the dough to come back to room temperature and soften as that defeats the whole point of having the butter and shortening firm up in the dough before the cookies go into the hot oven. If your kitchen is very warm (or if you have inadvertently allowed the dough to sit too long at room temperature), I’d advise placing the cookies (on the cookie sheet) back into the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so to ensure the butter and shortening in them are very firm before baking.
To achieve cookies that have a soft, tender crumb, I recommend not overbaking these cookies; in fact, I’d suggest just ever-so-slightly underbaking them. Bake the cookies just until they have puffed up, have the appearance of the tops starting to look dry, the edges are set, and the cookies are lightly tanned. Depending on how hot your oven runs, expect these cookies to bake in the vicinity of 14-18 minutes at 350°F. Overbaking will result in hard, crispy cookies. It’s important to note that baking times given are guidelines only as every oven heats differently and, of course, the size of cookie will affect the baking times as will the cookie sheets used. I would start checking the cookies for signs of doneness at (or even a minute or so before) the 14-minute mark and then checking them every couple of minutes thereafter until the cookies test done.
Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets to cool completely for about 30 minutes. The residual heat from the baking pan will help to set the bottoms of the cookies without overbaking them.
Rhubarb and Pistachio Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup shortening, room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 cup + 1½ tbsp granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (or Gluten-free 1-to-1/Cup-4-Cup Baking Flour to make cookies gluten free)
1/8 cup coconut flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp cardamom
3 oz (86g) chopped rhubarb from very thin stalks (chopped into ¼“ – 1/3” pieces)
½ cup white chocolate chips (either mini or regular sized chips)
Scant ½ cup chopped pistachios
Method:
Bring butter, shortening, and eggs to room temperature.
Mix brown and granulated sugars together in small bowl.
In medium-sized bowl, sift or sieve the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, coconut flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, and cardamom).
In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening at medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. With mixer set at low speed, gradually add the granulated and brown sugars then beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, stopping periodically to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Mix in the whole egg and beat for a few seconds to incorporate, stopping if necessary to scrape down sides of bowl. Repeat with the egg yolk and, lastly, add the vanilla. Do not overbeat mixture.
With speed of mixer set to lowest speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix just until ingredients are combined. Do not overmix. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in the rhubarb, pistachios, and white chocolate chips.
Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap or, alternatively, transfer dough to bowl that has airtight cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours and, ideally, for 24-48 hours.
To bake, remove dough from refrigerator and let cookie dough sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes, or just until dough can be scooped up to form cookies. Do not let cookie dough warm up completely to room temperature.
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using either a cookie scoop or two tablespoons, scoop up dough (about 1 1/8 oz per cookie) and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies 2” apart. Bake for 14-18 minutes (depending on cookie size and oven), or until cookies have puffed up, have the appearance of the tops starting to look dry, edges set, and the cookies are slightly tanned. Rotate cookie sheets at the halfway point during baking. For soft-textured cookies, do not overbake. Remove cookies from oven and cool completely on cookie sheet (i.e., about 30 minutes).
Yield: Apx. 30-32 cookies (depending on amount of dough used per cookie and size of cookie desired)
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Rhubarb and Pistachio Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup shortening, room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/3 cup + 1½ tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or Gluten-free 1-to-1/Cup-4-Cup Baking Flour to make cookies gluten free)
- 1/8 cup coconut flour
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 3 oz (86g) chopped rhubarb from very thin stalks (chopped into ¼“ – 1/3” pieces)
- ½ cup white chocolate chips (either mini or regular sized chips)
- Scant ½ cup chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Bring butter, shortening, and eggs to room temperature.
- Mix brown and granulated sugars together in small bowl.
- In medium-sized bowl, sift or sieve the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, coconut flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, and cardamom).
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and shortening at medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. With mixer set at low speed, gradually add the granulated and brown sugars then beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, stopping periodically to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Mix in the whole egg and beat for a few seconds to incorporate, stopping if necessary to scrape down sides of bowl. Repeat with the egg yolk and, lastly, add the vanilla. Do not overbeat mixture.
- With speed of mixer set to lowest speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix just until ingredients are combined. Do not overmix. Remove bowl from mixer stand and stir in the rhubarb, pistachios, and white chocolate chips.
- Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap or, alternatively, transfer dough to bowl that has airtight cover and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours and, ideally, for 24-48 hours.
- To bake, remove dough from refrigerator and let cookie dough sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes, or just until dough can be scooped up to form cookies. Do not let cookie dough warm up completely to room temperature.
- Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using either a cookie scoop or two tablespoons, scoop up dough (about 1 1/8 oz per cookie) and transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies 2” apart. Bake for 14-18 minutes (depending on cookie size and oven), or until cookies have puffed up, have the appearance of the tops starting to look dry, edges set, and the cookies are slightly tanned. Rotate cookie sheets at the halfway point during baking. For soft-textured cookies, do not overbake. Remove cookies from oven and cool completely on cookie sheet (i.e., about 30 minutes).
Recipe Notes
Yield: Apx. 30-32 cookies (depending on amount of dough used per cookie and size of cookie desired)
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You may also enjoy these other yummy cookie recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen:
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Drop Cookies
Hearty Hermits
Christmas Fruitcake Drop Cookies
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies
Cranberry and Eggnog Drop Cookies
Molasses Spice Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Chocolate Drop Cookies
Brown Sugar Jam-Filled Cookies
Cherry Winks
Double Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies
