St. Pat's Pistachio Cookies
Green energy, green business practices, green gifts… everything’s going green these days! Including these taste-tempting green pistachio cookies, the ideal St. Patrick’s Day treat. P.S. Step-by-step photos illustrating how to make these cookies are available at Bakers’ Banter, our King Arthur blog.
1/2 cup (4 ounces, 1 stick) butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) vegetable oil
1/4 cup (2 ounces) water
1 large egg
2 packages (3.4-oz. each) pistachio instant pudding mix, Jell-O brand preferred*
1/8 teaspoon pistachio flavor OR 1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 to 2/3 cup 2 1/2 to (3 1/4 ounces) chopped pistachios
*Jell-O gives the best color. Your cookies won’t be nearly as green if you use a store brand.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
Beat the butter, sugar, and vegetable oil in a bowl till combined, then add water and egg, beating until smooth. The mixture will look curdled at first, but will become creamy as you beat. Add the pudding mix, pistachio flavor, salt, and baking powder, beating until smooth; the mixture will turn a lovely pastel green. Stir in the flour and nuts.
Drop the dough by the tablespoonful (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well) onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2" between cookies. Flatten the cookies, if desired, using a fork, the flat bottom of a drinking glass, or the end of the pusher from your food processor. If you don’t flatten the cookies, they’ll bake up in softly flattened mounds; they’re lovely either way.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, until they’re starting to brown on the bottom. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pans.
Yield: about 32 cookies.
Reviews
03/15/2010
Simple and delicious! Such a pretty cookie.
03/18/2009
Fabulous taste! Crunchy outside, soft inside. Used Splenda instead of sugar. Used pecans, since that what I had on hand. A 'perfect' cookie in my opinion. Would be wonderful for Christmas too.
03/18/2009
A nice, simple recipe that is easy and quick to make but is slightly lacking in texture and taste. That said, it's a great treat for your annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations.
03/17/2009
I made these cookies for the first time last year for an after school St. Patrick's Day treat and my kids loved them. They are great for those of us who don't like overly sweet cookies. I made them again this year and dipped a glass bottom in granulated sugar before pressing down the cookies.
03/15/2009
I actually followed the recipe in King Arthur Flour's "Cookie Companion" book, which is identical except for the suggestion here online of adding some pistachio flavor, which I did. I also added some raw unsalted shelled pistachios (which I think is mentioned as an optional ingredient). The book does differ with the online version by stating to use a teaspoon scoop, so I used a #100 cookie scoop, and of course, they came out quite small. 15 minutes was too long, 13 minutes was too short, and 14 minutes of baking seemed to be just right (Are you reading this, Goldilocks?). I only gave it four stars, because although it is a very good cookie and of course, is great to make for St. Patrick's Day, it is not a "knock your socks off" cookie. If I could, I would have given it 4.5 stars. By the way, using the teaspoon measure, this recipe made 74 cookies.
03/15/2009
These cookies are delicious! I have used pistachio pudding in a pistachio cake and it is one of our favorites. The recipe is simple and perfect for St. Pat's Day! Give these a try!
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