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.
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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
Can I please have a recipe for pistachios cookies
The recipe is in the post
My dough are dry and crumbly and cookies did not spread like the picture shown. I made it twice and still get the same results. Cookies are hard and dry almost like scone when cool. What did I do wrong?
I have a whole post on tips and tricks for troubleshooting this recipe here: https://www.sugardishme.com/how-to-make-pudding-cookies/
The most common issue is not mixing ingredients in the right order, not fully creaming the butter and sugar, or skimping on vanilla. Hope that helps!
If you can only find sugar free pistachio pudding mix, can you substitute that in the recipe?
Probably but I've not tried it!
Followed your recipe to a tee and they were perfect! Thank you!
Thanks so much, Joan! So glad you enjoyed these!
These are very good. 1st batch of cookies I have made in almost 30 years! Excellent.I did add an extra egg. I am going to make more tomorrow as they will probably be gone by then!
Looks great! Can you freeze these cookies?
Pistachio pudding mix comes in 99 gram packages in Canada. So how would you adjust the recipe?
@Marg Fraser, personally I used the whole pack and they turned out fine each time! (Only made then twice so far)
I have pistachio butter that Id like to use up. How would you replace the chopped pistachios would this in the recipe? There is honey in the butter
Made these cookies and they were AMAZING! I bought pistachio cookies recently and would've bought more but the process have been jacked up from 16 to 20 dollars per dozen! Decided to make my own and came across this recipe. Only thing is, 1 tbsp was way too much vanilla and ended up wiping out the pistachio flavour (could've been the specific vanilla I used, who knows). I also didn't have pistachios so I added chocolate chips instead.
I am not a baker or exchanger. I just like some warm cookies on occasion. I made these tonight with two eggs and without fully creaming the butter/sugar. We only have a whisk. (No food coloring either.)
Sorry to any naysayer but these cookies were awesome. I would feel very comfortable exchanging the cookies I made tonight with anyone.
Yummy. Thanks for making our weekend.
Hello ?, I want to say I adore your recipes and enjoy making them. I want to make these beautiful pistachio pudding cookies but I’m not sure what size box of the jello instant pudding mix to buy because I read What you will need to make pistachio pudding cookies is listed under the m&m’s cookie picture at the top of the page and it says you need a (3 1/4 ounce) package of pistachio pudding mix and then when I went to the recipe at the bottom of the page it says you need 1 (3 ounce) package pistachio instant pudding mix Which size jello instant pudding mix is it ? I want to make sure I buy the right size box of pudding so I will be able to make my pistachio pudding cookies as beautiful and yummy as yours look. Thanks I look forward to hearing back from you. God Bless you ?
Did these for a cookie exchange and they turned out so good! I tweeked the recipe a little: I used only about 1 1/2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of chopped pistachios and added 1/2 cups dried cranberries. I only needed 8 minutes to bake them. Turned out beautifully and so chewy!
Tried these last night. Delicious!
Thank you Susan!
i just made these---- YUMMM! it doesnt take a rocket scientist to follow directions but oops i messed up a tad BUT it still worked out perfectly, im also glad i tested these before a cookie swap party, by the third dozen i was a pro in "prettiness" 10 minutes seemed to work for me too. thanks for the recipe
Thanks so much, Jenni! I also put together a post with tips for turning out perfect pudding cookies - you can find that here: https://www.sugardishme.com/how-to-make-pudding-cookies/
Just stumbled upon this tasty pistachio cookie recipe I can't wait to try. I also happen to notice that your a dog mom to rescued four legged lovelies which makes you 5 stars in my book!
Awwww thank you so much, Jessica! I actually have a whole post going up soon about how to make pudding cookies, but the trick is really to just follow my directions to the letter. Beat the butter and sugar WELL. Make sure you are using Jell-O pudding, or make sure you are only using a 3.4 ounce package (store brand packages are larger I've found). Other than that these are crazy easy. Enjoy! I'll tell the doggos they have a new fan ?