I have been obsessed with the yellow peaches this year. Slightly tart and sweet, these beauties have the prettiest orange-red hue on the outside, with a bright orange interior. Peaches come in 2 varieties – clingstone peaches and freestone. Clingstone is where the fruit clings onto the seed, and freestone peach is where when you cut the fruit, the seed detaches from the fruit easily.
Inspiration for the Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie
I have been making a yellow peach and ginger jam for a number of years now. It was one of the Jam Lab flavors, when I was selling my jams, and that too a popular flavor. As I was making the flavor for a compote, for another recipe, I was thinking how wonderful it would be to use this compote in cookie form.
And I was thinking of colors, textures and flavors that would go along with the peach and ginger compote, and that is when I came up with white chocolate and pistachios. The 3 components make a heavenly combo, that is TO DIE FOR!
I am not a fan of white chocolate, but it just GOES well in this cookie along with the other components.
Yellow Peach and Ginger Compote
Compotes are small chunks of fruit that are cooked in sugar along with some other flavor. Compote also uses less sugar as compared to jams and are eaten immediately.
The yellow peach and ginger compote is really easy to make. The peach pieces are macerated in sugar and ginger for 30 minutes. The maceration process releases the water from the fruit, making the cooking process faster and easier.
The fruit is cooked for a mere 10 minutes, and mashed slightly to form a gooey thick mass of fruit, that is the prettiest saffron orange in color, and SO good. You can eat it on buttered toast, in a yogurt parfait or even on ice cream!
Ingredients of the Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie
The ingredients of the Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie are:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda: helps with spreading and slightly raising the cookie as well.
- Salt
- Ground ginger: Carrying the theme throughout the cookie, from the compote to the cookie dough, the ground ginger adds a wonderful subtle flavor.
- Unsalted butter: at room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Large egg and egg yolk: Egg yolk only gives the cookie more body and girth.
- Yellow Peach and Ginger compote
- White chocolate: I use Ghirardelli white baking chocolate. You can also use Valrhona white chocolate chunks.
- Ground pistachios: I get my raw pistachio meats from Trader Joe’s. It is a good price and also they taste good, and are pretty green in color.
Process of making the Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie
The Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie starts off with a classic sugar cookie dough. I add ground ginger to enhance the flavor and also to carry the flavor from the compote to the cookie. The ginger is subtle and it spices up the cookie beautifully. Ginger also goes well with peaches and pistachios, making for an ideal addition.
The yellow peach and ginger compote, white chocolate chunks and coarsely chopped pistachios are added into the sugar cookie dough, and mixed in with a rubber spatula, because you do not want those bits to get lost in the dough if done in the stand mixer.
Then you’ll portion each dough into 16 balls; using an ice cream scoop will make this much easier. Gently round it between the palms of your hands. After a coat in granulated sugar, each ball will land on a baking sheet; I recommend placing 4 or a maximum of 5 cookies at a time. Cool them in the freezer for about 5 minutes, and then bake in a pre-heated oven for about 13 minutes. They’ll rise in the oven and become domed shaped.
How to get the signature ripple shape on the cookie?
As soon as you remove them from the oven, bang the sheet against the counter a few times, so the cookies spread out and ripple. (If you’re curious to learn more about this technique, look up “pan-banging cookies” online.)
I then decorate them with some compote in the middle, along with white chocolate chunks and pistachios for a pretty visual effect. They go into the oven for another 3-4 minutes or until they are golden brown in color.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack after 10 minutes and cool completely before attacking these “winner of a combo” cookie!
TIPS
- For the best cookies, use good quality white chocolate and pistachios to make them.
- Use an ice cream scooper to scoop out perfect even sized cookies.
- Place the measured and rolled out cookie dough balls into the freezer for 5 to 7 minutes, before baking them off. This helps the cookie to spread less, and I personally like a chunky cookie.
- Bang the baking sheet a couple of times after 12-13 minutes in the oven, to get the signature ripple effect on the sugar cookie.
- While the cookies are still warm, place your biggest round cookie cutter around the cookie and scoot it in a circular motion to give the cookie a perfect round shape. This will help in making the cookies all the same shape and size. Repeat the shaping with the rest of the cookies on the sheet.
- Immediately garnish the cookie with the compote, chocolate and pistachios and place in the oven to bake for a few more minutes or until nicely golden brown. You want to repeat these last 3 steps quickly in succession so that the cookie does not start setting and firming up.
How do you store the cookies?
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, outside on the counter for upto 5-6 days.
What do you use to scoop the cookie dough?
I use a 4 ounce ice cream scooper to scoop the cookie dough, so that I get even sized cookies.
What kind of white chocolate do you use for the cookie?
I use the Ghirardelli white baking chocolate bar, but you can use Valrhona white chocolate as well and cut it up into chunks.
What kind of baking trays do you use to make the cookies?
You can use these baking sheets for the cookies.
Other cookies that are popular on my blog:
- Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream
- Strawberry Orange and Lemon Sugar Cookies
If you make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post.
XO
Amisha
Yellow Peach, White Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie
Ingredients
Peach and Ginger Compote
- 2 yellow peaches, finely diced
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Cookie
- 3 cups + 2 tablespoons (420 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 cup (2 sticks; 226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar, plus ½ cup (100 grams) for rolling
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup Peach and Ginger Compote
- 4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup raw pistachios, coarsely chopped
Garnish
- 1 heaped teaspoon Peach and Ginger Compote
- 4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- ⅓ cup raw pistachios, finely chopped
Get Recipe Ingredients
Method
Peach and Ginger Compote
- In a small saucepan, add all the ingredients and mix until combined. Set it aside for half an hour to macerate the peaches.
- Place the saucepan on the stove, on medium-high heat, and cook the peaches for about 5 minutes. Using a masher, mash the fruit and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. Switch off the stove and cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
Cookie
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and make sure the rack is in the middle lower position.
- In a medium bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt and ginger. Whisk to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the sugar and butter. At medium-high speed, beat them together for about 2 minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy.
- Using a rubber spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl and bring the mixture together in the middle.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract, and mix until well incorporated.
- On slow speed, add the dry ingredients, and mix until well combined.
- Add ½ cup of the Peach and Ginger Compote, the white chocolate and pistachios, and use a rubber spatula and mix until well combined.
- Place the bowl into the fridge for about 15 minutes for the cookie dough to firm up a bit.
- Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place ½ cup granulated sugar in a bowl.
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out 16 balls from the dough, placing them equally on the 3 baking sheets.
- Roll the cookie dough ball in the bowl of granulated sugar and place it on a baking sheet.
- Repeat for all the balls.
- Place one sheet in the oven and bake for about 12 to 13 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden brown, and the cookie is puffy and domed shaped.
- Remove from the oven and bang the sheet against the kitchen counter about 2 times, so the cookies settle and spread.
- While the cookies are still warm, place your biggest round cookie cutter around the cookie and scoot it in a circular motion to give the cookie a perfect round shape. This will help in making the cookies all the same shape and size. Repeat the shaping with the rest of the cookies on the sheet.
- Immediately garnish by adding a heaped teaspoon of the compote, 2-3 pieces of white chocolate and some pistachios. Place the cookie back into the oven for another 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown in color. Remove the baking sheet from the oven.
- Transfer them onto a wire rack after 10 minutes and cool completely.
- Repeat the baking/garnishing/cooling process for the remainder of the cookies.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
How do you store the cookies?
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container, outside on the counter for upto 5-6 days.
What do you use to scoop the cookie dough?
- I use a 4 ounce ice cream scooper to scoop the cookie dough, so that I get even sized cookies.
What kind of white chocolate do you use for the cookie?
- I use the Ghirardelli white baking chocolate bar, but you can use Valrhona white chocolate as well and cut it up into chunks.
What kind of baking trays do you use to make the cookies?
- You can use these baking sheets for the cookies.
