5 from 2 votes

Pistachio Pudding Cookies

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These pistachio pudding cookies are a soft and chewy cookie that are tender every time with just the right amount of crunch. The pistachio pudding is the secret ingredient in this recipe to a delicious cookie recipe your family and friends will go nuts for!

A stack of green pistachio pudding cookies with white chocolate chips with a bite taken out of the top cookie.


 

Why We Love Pistachio Pudding Cookies

  • Soft Chewy Cookies – These pistachio pudding cookies come out of the oven soft and with a chewy texture. It’s the perfect easy treat, and a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies.
  • Packed Full Of Nutty Flavor – I’ve been obsessing over pistachio flavor lately. It has this nuttiness that works so well in the buttery soft cookies, and works well with the white chocolate chips.
  • Perfect For Holidays – Whether it’s for a Christmas cookie exchange, New Year’s, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter or Halloween, these fun green cookies feel festive on any cookie tray. These chewy pistachio cookies also just feel a little special with their bright green color and are the perfect sweet treat any time of year.

Fans of these pistachio cookies will love this easy pistachio pudding cake recipe, also known as the vintage recipe “Watergate cake.”

Ingredients For Pistachio Pudding Cookies

A list of ingredients for a cookie recipe.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements and directions below in the recipe card.

  • unsalted butter softened
  • brown sugar
  • white sugar
  • eggs divided, 2 eggs and one yolk are needed in the batter
  • vanilla extract
  • instant pistachio pudding mix must be instant
  • green food coloring gel is not needed, I used between 5-10 drops per batch but you can add more for a more vibrant color
  • flour –  use all purpose flour
  • baking soda
  • salt
  • pistachios shelled and chopped, plus extra for decorating, salted and roasted is ok, or raw nuts work also
  • white chocolate chips plus extra for decorating

How To Make Pistachio Pudding Cookies

  1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar and white sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed and fluffy.
  2. Add two eggs, one extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Pour in the pistachio instant pudding and mix until fully mixed in. Add a few drops, just a little green food coloring to give the cookies more of a green color.
  1. In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix to combine. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until a dough forms.
  2. Fold in the white chocolate chips and pistachios and mix into the dough. Chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Green pistachio cookie dough in a mixing bowl from overhead with pistachio pieces and white chocolate chips on top of the dough to be mixed in.
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. With a medium cookie scoop. portion the dough into two-tablespoon dough balls. Leave two inches between cookies when placed on the prepared cookie sheet. Top each cookie dough ball with several extra chocolate chips for a prettier finished cookie.
A baking sheet with green pistachio cookie dough topped with white chocolate chips on a baking sheet from above.
  1. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they set at the edges and lightly browned on top. You don’t want to overcook these, it’s better to underbake in the middle slightly.
  2. Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!
Green pistachio cookies with white chocolate chips on a cooling wire rack from above.

What Flavor Is Pistachio Pudding?

Pistachio pudding has a nutty flavor and creamy texture. The pudding gives these cookies a nutty flavor with a super soft and chewy bite.

Often pistachio pudding also has almond flavoring and vanilla flavoring added also to boost the flavor of the pistachio. Pistachio pudding is a great way to add pistachio flavor to baked goods, I also use it in my pistachio pudding cake.

How Long Will Pistachio Pudding Cookies Last?

Expect these cookies will last 4-5 days when stored in a covered airtight container on the counter.

Why Are These Cookies Green?

Pistachios are naturally a bright green color and the extra food coloring in the cookies emphasizes that green color.

We add a little food coloring to these cookies to bring out the green color of the cookies. If you prefer you can leave out the green food coloring out of the recipe.

How Does Pudding Change The Cookie Dough?

Pudding added to the cookies adds flavor, but also makes the cookies super soft leaving you with a soft and chewy cookie. I’ve made a couple different variations of these cookies because I love them so much! Try the chocolate chip pudding cookies, banana pudding cookies or Santa’s favorite pudding M&M cookies!

Can You Freeze Pistachio Cookies?

Yes you can freeze these pistachio pudding cookies both once baked and as dough.

If you freeze the cookies as dough I recommend portioning the cookies into dough balls, then placing on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Once the cookie dough balls are frozen, place the frozen cookie dough in a freezer zip-top bag.

When baking it may take an extra minute or two for the cookies to bake from frozen.

The cookies will taste best if eaten within 3-4 months.

A stack of green pistachio pudding cookies four cookies tall with more cookies in the background.
Recipe

Pistachio Pudding Cookies


Course Baking, Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 28 Cookies
Pistachio pudding cookies are a soft and chewy cookie every time. The pistachio pudding is the secret ingredient to a delicious cookie that feels a little special but is still an easy recipe to make.

Ingredients  

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened, 2 sticks is 1 cup
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 3 large eggs two eggs plus one yolk are needed for one batch of cookie dough batter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3.4 ounces instant pistachio pudding mix one box, must be instant
  • 5 drops green food coloring gel is not needed, I used between 5-10 drops per batch
  • 2 3/4 cups flour use all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup pistachios shelled and chopped, plus extra for decorating, salted and roasted is ok, or raw nuts work also
  • 1 ½ cups white chocolate chips plus extra for decorating

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed and fluffy.
  • Add two eggs, one extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined. Pour in the pistachio instant pudding and mix until fully mixed in. Add a few drops of food coloring to give the cookies more of a green color.
  • In a separate bowl add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix to combine. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix with an electric mixer until a dough forms.
  • Fold in the white chocolate chips and pistachios and mix into the dough. Chill the dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • With a medium cookie scoop. portion the dough into two tablespoon dough balls. Leave two inches between cookies when placing on the prepared cookie sheet. Top each cookie dough ball with several extra chocolate chips for a prettier finished cookie.
  • Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until they set at the edges and lightly browned on top. You don’t want to overcook these, it’s better to underbake in the middle slightly.
  • Let the cookies cool for 2-3 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 81mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 244IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword Christmas, cookie recipes, white chocolate

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4 Comments

  1. You write, “Add the eggs, extra egg yolk, vanilla extract and mix until combined.” and the ingredient list says “3 eggs, divided”. Can you please specify how many whole eggs and how many yolks are in the batter? Thanks.

    1. Hi Monika, it is two eggs plus one egg yolk in the batter. I was trying to write it a different way then I normally do to make the nutrition more closely accurate on the back end and it looks like it ended up coming across unclear. I’ve edited the text of the recipe also to make things more clear. Hope you enjoy the cookies, they are really delicious!

  2. Nancy Lynae Schulle-Dawson says:

    5 stars
    I have alergies to nuts, can I. put the Pastaio Flavering in them instead of the Nut itself?

    1. Yes you could add Pastaio Flavoring, but the pistachio instant pudding will also have flavoring in it. I’d check that carefully to make sure it doesn’t have actucal nuts in the pudding base, as the pudding is pistachio flavored also.. I have never made it this way specifically to advise you on how much flavoring will work best for sure, but if it were me I would probably start with 1/4-3/4 teaspoon of the extract for the batter depending on how strong of a flavor the extract is. Let me know how it goes!

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