Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

A simple recipe for a pistachio cookie with dried cranberries, perfect for Christmas.

Source:  The Girl Who Ate Everything, a great blog from a self-proclaimed foodie.

Yield:  About 4 dozen smallish cookies.

I did something for this cookie that I have never done before in my entire life.  I actually bought and paid for a packet of dry sugar cookie mix.  I was kind of embarrassed.  I was walking around the store, hiding the cookie mix behind a box of light bulbs, hoping no one would see me with it.  I felt like I was buying porn or something.

If we are keeping count, there are actually a couple more firsts for me, courtesy of this cookie recipe.  Namely, buying shelled pistachios ($8 a can, but completely delicious) and buying pistachio flavored instant pudding mix, which I have never had any use for.  It’s been a completely foreign experience, all the way around.

On the bright side, this cookie is amazingly easy to throw together.  Christy was right… you could easily throw together 8 dozen without breaking a sweat.  It also gave me a chance to work out my aggression by using my favorite kitchen tool, the Pampered Chef nut chopper.  It may need to be sharpened, though, because I worked out more aggression than I was actually feeling, and then I started feeling a little aggression toward the nut chopper itself, before all my pistachios were properly chopped.  Oh well, what’s life without something to complain about?

The dough does turn out a bit heavy, so I experimented a couple ways to smash the cookies flat.  I left some un-smashed, but I really liked the flat version better.  I first tried smashing them flat right as they came out of the oven, but they were just not done enough and not pretty enough for me.  I have standards, you know.  I had the best luck by smashing them with a heavy drinking glass before baking, and then baking about 8-9 minutes, then leaving them on the baking sheet several minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

These cookies are so pretty!  I absolutely love the green color with the red dots of cranberries.  I found myself wishing the cranberries gave a little more flavor than they did, although I do love pistachio.  Regular readers of this blog know that I have a family of nut-haters, and you are probably wondering why I would even make a pistachio cookie at all.  Believe me, I’ve been asking myself that same question.  It turns out, my sons actually like the cookies, although my daughter is not a fan.   My dad who dropped by to help me last night was rewarded with a couple cookies, which he claimed would probably be gone before he could make the 10 minute drive home!

My personal opinion of this cookie?  It’s not my all-time favorite or anything, but it is solid.  The green and red color make it look so festive!  I think it would be perfect for a last minute holiday get-together, or a gift for a neighbor or coworker.

4.0 from 1 reviews

Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

 

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Cook time

8 mins

Total time

8 mins

 

A simple and quick recipe for a green pistachio cookie with dried cranberries.

Serves: 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix pouch
• 1 box (4 serving size) pistachio flavored instant pudding mix
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dry roasted salted pistachios, chopped
• ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients together.
2. Add eggs and butter and mix until combined.
3. Fold in pistachios and cranberries.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool 3-5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

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