Chanukah Olive Oil Cookies
A slice-and-bake cookie filled with pistachios and bittersweet chocolate.
Prep Time
20minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Prep Time
20minutes
Cook Time
15minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Grind the pistachios in a food processor to a medium-fine, pebbly consistency. Combine the ground pistachio meats, flour, baking powder, chopped chocolate and salt in a small bowl and mix them thoroughly with a large fork.
  2. In a larger bowl, combine the olive oil, egg, vanilla and sugar. Mix them to combine.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ones, and mix with a large fork until well combined. The mixture will be like pebbly sand.
  4. Press it into a lump and put it on a piece of parchment paper. Using the parchment to help roll the dough, make it into a log 12 inches long.
  5. If using the optional outside coating, brush the extra oil over the log and roll it in the pistachio and chocolate mixture. Press that mixture into the roll slightly, to hold it in place, and roll the parchment paper over the log. Don’t be afraid to use your hand to roll the log or to press in the coating, which doesn’t stick unless you apply pressure by rolling it.
  6. Chill the log in the freezer for about one hour. It should be firm to the touch, and well chilled.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. With a sharp knife, cut the chilled log into 1/2 inch thick pieces (24 total) and lay them out on 2 rimmed cookie sheets lined with parchment or silicone. It’s easiest if you cut the log in half, then cut each half into half again, followed by cutting each of those quarters into thirds. The cookies will not be perfectly shaped, but you can press them back into roundish shapes if they get too odd-looking after you slice them.
  9. Bake the cookies for about 13-15 minutes, rotating the pans from front-to-back and switching their places on the oven racks about halfway through to promote even baking. As they bake, the cookies will rise slightly, but if they were well chilled, they should not spread out much.
  10. Remove the cookies to wire racks and cool them thoroughly before serving.
Recipe Notes

The best olive oil to use for these cookies is one that is on the sweet, rather than peppery, side. Sometimes the label will describe the oil’s features (similar to the label on some wine bottles.) Otherwise smell and taste it.
I use Trader Joe’s dry roasted and unsalted pistachios. For an even more roasted flavor, I roast them for an additional 5 minutes at 325 degrees F. before chopping them in the food processor. That step is totally optional. It just deepens and enhances the roasted flavor.
Prep time does not include freezing the cookie mixture.
Finely chopped chocolate works much better than mini chips for the coating because the chips make it somewhat difficult to cut the log into slices.
I use a ruler to make sure the log is about 12 inches long, but you can estimate if you prefer. The exact length is not crucial, as long as the slices once cut are each about 1/2 inch thick.