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Chocolate Pistachio Monster Cookies

The cute cookies are the perfect fun delicacy to make for spooky season! Sweet pistachio cream and bittersweet dark chocolate ganache are sandwiched between two pistachio brown sugar cookies. These little sandwiches are decorated to look like little monsters to make this a perfect and fun treat for anyone!
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Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 14 minutes
Chill Time 2 hours
Total Time 4 hours
Servings: 12 sandwiches
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Pistachio Cookies
  • ⅔ cup raw unsalted pistachios
  • ⅔ cup dark brown sugar divided
  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon pistachio or almond extract
  • green food coloring
Fillings
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup pistachio cream spread
  • candy eyes

Method
 

Start by making the cookies
  1. In a food processor, pulse together the pistachios and ⅓ cup of brown sugar into a very fine crumb. Set aside.
  2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and remaining ⅓ cup of brown sugar together on medium speed until fluffy and combined. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and pistachio extract and beat until creamy and combined.
  3. Pour the dry ingredients and the pistachio mixture into the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Add a few drops of green food coloring and mix until the dough is evenly colored green. The dough should be thick and creamy.
  4. On a heavily floured work surface, shape/press the dough into a disk, roughly 1 inch thick. Wrap the disk in cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Shape the cookies
  1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat and set aside.
  2. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and place on a floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to roughly ¼ inch thickness. Cut the dough into round cookies using a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the previously prepared baking sheets. Re-roll and re-cut the scraps of dough.
  3. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until slightly browned at the edges. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.
Make the ganache
  1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat safe mixing bowl.
  2. In a saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until simmering. Once simmering, remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture sit without stirring for 3 minutes to melt the chocolate before stirring to combine. The ganache should be glossy and smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Let the ganache cool until it thickens to a spreadable consistency. You can put it in the refrigerator to speed up this process, but you will want to check in on it and stir it every 10 minutes or so.
  3. Once thickened, spread a thin layer of ganache on the flat bottom side of every cookie. Then, fill a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip (I used Wilton 12) with the ganache. Pipe a ring around the outside of half of the cookies. This will serve as a moat to keep the pistachio cream from slipping out. Fill the moat with a loaded teaspoon of pistachio cream and top with one of the cookies without the moat. See video in the above post for a clear visual on the assembly process.
Decorate
  1. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I used Wilton #4) with the remaining chocolate ganache. Pipe a chocolate mouth, stitches, and eyebrows on top of the cookie as pictured. Pipe 2 dots of ganache and place the eyes on top to stick them on.
  2. Cookies last for up to 5 days sealed in an airtight container at room temperature.