My friend Marline was just expounding upon how she loved a drop cookie and didn’t bother with those that required cooling and rolling and cutting. I’m in complete agreement, as I am on so many of Marline’s offerings of wisdom. Case in point: this simple pistachio cookie, which takes the short-cut around the nut scene and relies on the use of pistachio pudding mix for its flavor and color, and I couldn’t be happier to cut corners, especially when the results are so tasty.
One day I’ll go the Martha/Ina route of growing my own pistachios, harvesting them at their optimum time, curing and baking and drying or whatever the fuck we do to make pistachios palatable, then chopping and pulverizing in an old-school mortar and pestle – but until such time that a millionaire lifestyle of leisure and frou-frouery comes my way, it’s got to be Jello instant fucking pudding. It’s so fine and pretty! Once the liquids hit that powder it’s like St. Fucking Patrick’s Day without all the vomiting and passing out.
Here’s the recipe I found online somewhere (I believe it was EatMoveMake.com):
Pistachio Cookies
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 packages pistachio instant pudding mix (3.4 ozs)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In mixer, cream together eggs, butter and pudding mix until combined and smooth. (Watch it turn as green as Elphaba!) Stir in vanilla, then add flour and baking soda (I sifted these in). Fold in chocolate chips. (I switched out the semi-sweet chocolate for white chocolate for a lighter look and flavor.)
- Drop teaspoons of dough an inch apart onto ungreased baking sheet. (I did a tablespoon of dough and spaced them two inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.) Bake 12-14 minutes. Cookies will have a golden tint to edges but still be very soft. Cool completely then store in an airtight container. Deliver to your friends because you will have a lot of cookies. Or eat them all yourself.
