Pistachio Pudding Cookies
Happy Cookie Swapping! These Pistachio Pudding cookies are soft and chewy, and are the prettiest festive shade of green! An easy drop cookie recipe you will L.O.V.E.
It's that day again! Food blogger cookie swap day. Your internet is about to be inundated with all the awesome cookie recipes. Last year I made these Peppermint Hot Chocolate Brownie Cookies which are still way up at the top of my holiday cookie list.
This year I decided to go the drop cookie route again with these Pistachio Pudding Cookies. The color is so festive! And pistachios are always a favorite.
I picked this recipe because the cookies are soft but not delicate -- I was pretty certain they would ship well. I only heard back from one of my recipients (who reported they arrived in one piece and that she loved them), but I am pretty sure it's because Andrew helped me pack up the boxes and I only realized AFTER we shipped that he conveniently forgot to insert my business cards plus hello notes.
Thanks, dude.
Anyway -- this time of year my How to Ship Baked Goods post gets a good bit of traction, and I think that having a handy list of recipes you can ship easily makes cookie swapping with those that aren't nearby even more simple.
Pistachio Pudding Cookies
This recipe has been made quite a few times by readers; there are some great tips in the comments. Some people had questions though, so I put together a whole separate tutorial on How to Make Pudding Cookies.
The recipe for Pistachio Pudding Cookies is extra easy. I started with my Chewy Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and played around a little. The pistachio pudding makes these incredibly soft and chewy, and I love the flavor! To make these easy pudding cookies you will need:
- unsalted butter - SOFT butter!
- light brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- 1 TABLESPOON vanilla extract
- one egg
- a (3 ¼ ounce) package of pistachio pudding mix
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- chopped shelled pistachios
- a tiny bit of green food coloring to get the green color right (optional)
Yes, Just One Egg
It's not a typo or an error. This recipe only requires one egg. Following the instructions in the order that they are written is imperative for most baking recipes, because it can make or break the end result.
To make sure your Pistachio Pudding Cookie Dough is moist and not crumbly, you need ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) of softened butter. You need to beat together the butter and sugar until they are fluffy. THEN you'll add in your egg and a whole Tablespoon of vanilla.
It's enough moisture. I promise.
Check the weight of the pudding mix you are using. Some brands have larger quantities in a standard package. 3 ¼ ounces is perfect.
Cookie Swap Faves
For this year's food blogger cookie swap, I received these White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Snowman Cookies. They were SO GOOD. Like bold print all caps good. Like I hid them from my family good.
I also got these amazing Ampersandwich Cookies -- They were beautiful! Peanut Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Chocolate Ganache. Every bit as amazing as they sound.
Love a good Cookie Recipe? You should also try...
Coffee Lover's Cookies are full of surprises. There's chocolate, and espresso powder, and even a little Bailey's Irish Cream.
The Grinch Stole Christmas Cookies are probably my hands down FAVORITE holiday cookies. Mint! Chocolate! Festive red and green! Santa loves them.
Pistachio Pudding Cookies
Soft and chewy, and a festive green! These Pistachio Pudding Cookies are excellent for cookie swapping! A holiday favorite recipe.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 (3 ounce) package pistachio instant pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups shelled chopped pistachios
- 2-3 drops green food coloring (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until just combined.
- Mix in the flour, pudding mix, baking powder, and salt. Continue mixing until the dough *just* comes together.
- Stir in the chopped pistachios and the food coloring until the color is distributed evenly.
- About a tablespoon at a time, portion the dough out onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2" apart.
- Bake for 9-11 mins (10 is always perfect for me). Your cookies might look slightly under-cooked - it's ok!!! They are done. Over baking takes away the chewy texture.
- Let them cool for a few minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
36Serving Size:
2Amount Per Serving: Calories: 115Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 87mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 2g
Why cant i leave less than 4 stars? I was very disapointed. I wanted to leave 1 star, couldnt leave less than four. No wonder your rating looks high. What a rip.
Hi Vicki -- the first comment a reader ever leaves requires admin approval. That's a standard WordPress setting, but also makes it so you don't have to sort through a bunch of spammy comments so that you can get the info you need.
My ratings are high because these cookies are amazing. If they were dry and crumbly then you did something wrong.
You can absolutely leave a rating that's less than 4 stars. But it requires the user to enter their email address so that I can actually help them troubleshoot. You know, because people on the internet can't behave themselves and type rude ass things they would never say to someone's face.
Wonder why that sounds familiar ... ?
@Heather Tullos, Well said ✌?
Do not use this recipe. They turned out so dry and crumbly, and your recipe called for one egg, & realized all the other recipes call for two. I followed it to a tee, and they are nothing like the pic, they are crumbly and more like shortbread, & not chewy. The cookies shown spread out on the sheet to be rather flat, mine never melted at all, turned out to j7st stay dry cookie balls. You have a typo & should fix it. I wasted some expensive ingredients. And what is with this site, i wanted to give you 1 star, tge least it would let me pick was 4!!! Not 4 stars!!!
@Vicki Wagner, I dedicated this tutorial to ya: https://www.sugardishme.com/how-to-make-pudding-cookies/
?✌️
I made this recipe twice and glad I “piloted” it first. I saw many comments about the batter being dry and the happened to me the first time too. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong and I added an extra egg to save it. The second time I also added a second egg but did not mix the ingredients the same way u normally do when baking. I saved the vanilla and eggs for later and alternated the pudding mix and flour while adding the vanilla and eggs throughout and the mixture was very different. I also did one batch with crushed pistachios and one without. I like the look of the cookie with the crushed pistachios better. It’s a good cookie will see what everyone else says tonight and tomorrow!
Can I use margarine in place of butter?
So yummy! I omitted the pistachios (my daughter likes the flavor, but not the nut) and saw that it needed an additional egg. They turned out delish!!!! This recipe is a keeper!
Thank you, Shannon! So glad you guys enjoyed these!
My dough was very dry and crumbly. I had to make it into balls and flaten them a little. The food color didn't mix in well, if I were to make this again I would put the coloring in with the egg and vanilla. The cookies turned out great though.
I to followed the recipe except I only used 1 cup of chopped pistachios and 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberry. They turned out puffy not flat but tasted alright.
Is the recipe 1 1/2 cups of pistachio pieces, or 1 1/2 cups of whole nuts that you chop?
Hi Kim! That would be 1 1/2 cups pieces - whether you chop them or not. Measure after the nuts are no longer whole, not before. Hope that helps!
Can you freeze this cookie dough? I want to make them for a cookie swap.
I've not tried freezing this dough. My guess is yes but I can't say for sure because I haven't done it myself!
Are you supposed to make the pudding and then add it to the mix??? My cookies were very dry
no you don't have to make the pudding first. I've never had pudding cookies turn out dry, so something went wrong.
Awesome recipe...everyone Loved them!
Oh good! Thanks for the feedback, Christina!
I was so excited for these and followed the directions carefully, but the first batch turned out to be grainy and dry, so I added another egg. They still didn'5 look anything like the pic. Not sure what happened.
My hubby loves all things pistachio pudding. I have never made him cookies with it before though! Definitely need to try this!
I love the color of these! What a perfect treat to add to a cookie swap platter 😉
Thank you Amy!!! Happy holidays!!!
Can I get the recipe, lost mine
You can print it here!