The recipe is adapted from one in the Sacramento Bee by Jane Dewey, the wife of a local pistachio farmer. I tweaked the recipe a bit from the original. I prefer using a brick of white chocolate and chopping it into chunks for a more rustic look, but white chocolate chips will do just fine. I also reduced the butter and used kosher salt which gives a spark of contrast to the cookies’ sweetness. Super chewy and amazingly good, I promise these cookies are keepers! By the way, almost all of the pistachios grown in America are produced right here in California (we’re a lucky state, we are). It’s a surprisingly labor intensive crop that requires a lot of attention for yields that can greatly differ from year to year. The crop is relatively new to the U.S.; up until 1976, almost all of the pistachios were imported from Iran until President Carter placed an embargo on the country. It was then California farmers started to plant the first pistachio trees here in America. Nowadays we can get pistachios from any local market and use their rich, mellow flavors as we please. Add an extra pistachio or two on top of each bit of dough for decoration if desired.
