You’ll fall in love with these bewitching double chocolate cookies with pistachios and rose petals. As if the chocolate chips weren’t enough, I topped them with pieces of dark chocolate which melt into heavenly little pools of deliciousness. You may have heard that chocolate is considered to be an aphrodisiac because it contains tryptophan and phenelethylamine. Tryptophen increases the mood booster serotonin in the brain. Phenelethylamine is released by the brain when you fall in love. Pistachios are also considered to be natural aphrodisiacs and these cookies contain plenty of pistachios! The rose petals add a touch of romance to finish off the perfect love potion cookies.
If you’re not a fan of pistachios, feel free to substitute your favorite toasted nuts. If you want to skip the nuts all together, make sure to replace them with another add-in, because the nuts provide structure to the cookies. I recommend dried cherries or white chocolate chips as a nice alternative.
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cookies
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- 2 cups (9 oz or 255g) all purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup (1 3/4 oz or 48g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (8 oz or 227g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz or 150g) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (9 oz or 255g) semisweet or dark chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup (3 oz or 85g) toasted unsalted pistachios
- 2 ounces (57g) semisweet or dark chocolate bar broken into 3/4-inch pieces
- finely chopped, toasted unsalted pistachios for garnish
- dried rose petals for garnish
Ingredients
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- Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla in 3 separate additions and beat until incorporated. Beat in the flour mixture just until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pistachios.
- Form the dough into 18 2-tablespoon size portions, about 2 ounces (57g) each. Form the portions into 2-inch heart shapes. (They don't have to be perfect, because the cookies are going to spread as they bake.) Place the heart shapes on a tray. Cover and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Place 6 heart shapes on each cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Top each one with a piece of chocolate bar. I placed my chocolate pieces on the upper left of each cookie. Bake the cookies until the tops look set, about 10-11 minutes. Be careful not to over bake the cookies or they'll be more difficult to shape into hearts.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately use a large, metal heart-shaped cookie cutter to shape the hot cookies. Place the cookie cutter onto the cookie sheet over each cookie and slide it up and down a couple of times, then slide it side to side a couple of times. Work quickly before the cookies set. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Top the cookies with chopped pistachios and rose petals before the melted chocolate sets.
To find culinary rose petals, click here.
To find the cookie cutter I used, click here.