Crisp edges and soft chewy centers, these Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Cookies are full of delicious flavor and texture. Perfectly festive and great for holiday cookie swaps!
I'm continuing the cranberry theme over here because they're delicious and in season, of course. The perfect excuse for making these oh so delicious Vegan Cranberry Pistachio Cookies, if you ask me. Plus, the red and green colors are pretty and festive for the season, right? So, basically these cookies are perfect for holiday cookie swaps and get togethers!
I went with my go to cookie base made by creaming together coconut oil (you want a scoop able texture, not liquid), maple syrup and coconut sugars. The result is a cookie with crisp edges and soft chewy centers. Add to that the crunch of the pistachios, the chewiness of the cranberries and these cookies are perfect for anyone who loves a lot of texture. That would be us! We totally love cookies with a lot of texture, just check out exhibits A and B.
For these cookies, you'll need dried cranberries so you can use store bought or if you have the time, drying fresh cranberries in the oven is a cinch. Check out my how to guide to see just how easy it is. For this particular batch, I used store bought because I happened to have some on hand.
There's no need to chill the dough for these cookies, just scoop and bake and you'll be in cookie eating heaven in under 30 minutes!
One note: These cookies don't spread much so you'll want to press with the palm of your hand to flatten into a nice cookie shape. I also like to chop a few extra pistachios and cranberries and press into the top of dough for extra prettiness, but this is optional.
These cookies are everything we love in a cookie - crisp edges, soft centers, perfectly sweet, a bit salty with a ton of flavor and fun textures. They're a real favorite of the whole family so I hope you'll love them as much as we do!
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup coconut oil, scoop able
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tbsp non dairy milk
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
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Combine flour, salt, and baking soda together and set aside.
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Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together coconut oil maple syrup and coconut sugar until creamy and fluffy. Note: if your oil is liquid, place in the fridge, stirring every 5-10 minutes until a scoop able texture reached.
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Add vanilla and a third of the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
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Add another third of flour, mix again and add the last of the flour.
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Add non dairy milk and mix until a dough forms.
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Add cranberries and pistachios and fold in to incorporate into dough.
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Scoop small amounts of dough onto baking sheet leaving about 2 inches of space between each. Press down a bit on each to flatten into a cookie shape. Press additional chopped pistachios and cranberries into dough, if desired.
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Bake for 12 -14 minutes or until edges and bottoms have browned slightly.
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Cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before moving to wire rack to continue cooling.
Dried cranberries recipe here.
Alexis
Think I can use regular alll purpose flour?
Melissa
Yes, you can use all purpose flour as well.
Kate
Love the idea behind the recipe, but I can’t seem to find the right consistency. I used the Tbsp of non dairy milk in the diet batch, and the batter was too dry and crumbly. The second batch I added 2tsp more of nondairy milk, and the cookie was too soft with no crunch. Any advice?
Melissa
Hi Kate. How did you measure the flour? If you scoop with the measuring cup you will end up with too much flour and the consistency will be too dry. The way I measure is to first fluff the flour in the container with a spoon and then use the spoon to scoop the flour loosely into the measuring cup. Then use the back of a knife to level the flour across the cup. The texture of this cookie should be crisp on the edges and soft and a bit chewy in the middle. My guess with your second batch is that it needed to bake a minute or two longer to crisp up a little more. I hope this helps.
Sarah
Made these today with a small tweak to save on cost a little in these "unprecedented times":
Reduced dried cranberries by half, replacing the rest (generously) with vegan chocolate chips.
Reduced pistachios to a couple of tablespoons, chopped and sprinkled on top in a thumbprint (and added a little flaked salt). An aesthetic preference, mostly.
Baked 8.5 mins in preheated gas oven on Silpat lined sheet.
Result was perfect, these things won't last the night! Bookmarked.
Melissa
Great ideas for tweaking the recipe to be more cost effective. Thank you for sharing your results and so glad you enjoyed them!