Pistachio Cherry Meltaways
Pistachio Cherry Meltaways are soft and chewy with a sweet pistachio flavor. Easy and festive, these cookies are always a hit!
PISTACHIO CHERRY MELTAWAYS
We had a situation happen this week. My husband and I were watching TV and about to go to bed when we heard a crackling noise. We turned around just in time to see our water cooler burst into flames. My husband quickly threw it outside and diminished the flames. No one was hurt.
As we aired out the house that was filled with smoke we started going over the what ifs. What if we were out of town? What if we had gone to bed 10 minutes earlier? The fire was right below our kid’s rooms. So scary. It could have been so much worse. I’m so grateful we were where we were, that my kids are okay, and for my quick thinking husband.
I always do things full throttle and I was on a quest for a cookie that was not only festive looking but actually tasted good too. I love meltaway cookies and thought that a pistachio version would not only taste amazing but would have the Christmas green color that I wanted.
Meltaway cookies don’t have any eggs in them but are made from butter, powdered sugar, and cornstarch to create that melt in your mouth taste. Since pudding mixes already have cornstarch in them, I thought it would be the perfect component in my version of a meltaway cookie.
I experimented and made no less than four batches of these cookies trying to come up with the perfect combination for a buttery pistachio flavored cookie with bits of maraschino cherry throughout. At one point I called my husband at work and pleaded with him to stop at Costco and pick up more butter on the way home! I can hear the treadmill calling my name…
I love the flavor of maraschino cherries and the flavor goes so well with pistachio. At first I poured some of the cherry juice in with the dough for some extra flavor. Epic fail. Red cherry juice + green pistachio dough = dishwater brown. Not festive at all. Experimenting some more I found that I thankfully could have my cherries and eat them too by simply chopping them finely and patting them dry with a paper towel before adding them to the dough. A VERY important step.
After the cookies have baked you can roll or sprinkle them with more powdered sugar.
Look how fun they are to bite into!
OTHER CHRISTMAS RECIPES:
- Christmas Tree “Cheese” Ball
- Soft Eggnog Cookies
- Peppermint Eggnog Punch
- Eggnog Gingerbread Trifle
- Cranberry and Feta Pinwheels
- North Pole Cupcakes
- Eggnog Eclair Cake
- Santa Claus Cookies
Pistachio Cherry Meltaways
These Pistachio Cherry Meltaways are soft and chewy with a sweet pistachio flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- optional green food coloring (about 2 drops)
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, chopped finely
Instructions
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In a stand mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, pudding mix, and flour. Mix until combined. The mixture may seem dry at first but will come together after beating.
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Add the almond extract and green food coloring if you want the cookies with a brighter green color.
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Finely chop the maraschino cherries. Using a paper towel pat the cherries removing all of the juice and excess liquid. You want to make sure you dry all of the red juice or you may turn your cookies a not so pretty color. Gently mix in the chopped cherries being careful not to overmix because the color will start to bleed.
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Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or until firm.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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Take a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Place cookie on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
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Bake for 9-11 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet. Once completely cooled sprinkle or roll cookies with additional powdered sugar.
I’m wondering should I use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe? I’m trying these out for a possible part in our Alice In Wonderland tea party baby shower we are having in the middle of November. Our first grandbaby is due February of next year and her name is Alice Carol.😊
Aww how sweet. Yes, I would use unsalted butter as I always do when baking.
These are incredibly good! Everyone loved them!
Thank you!
I love this cookie, my favorite flavors, the only thing i changed was instead of putting 1 1/2 almond extract , i put 1 tea vanilla extract and 1/2 tea of almond extract. almond extract is strong . but other than that love love this cookie..
Thank you!
This is the copycat recipe I saw: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/pistachio-cherry-meltaway-cookies/
Actually I guest posted this for her on her site. It’s my recipe and if you look at her recipe card you will see that she gives credit to me in the recipe.
I’m going to try these for my office Christmas cookies exchange how many cookies does a batch make!??
Every recipe card has the amount yielded at the top. Sorry it’s too late but it makes 24.
I found these on a site where someone had repurposed (copied?) your recipe, but giving credit, so I didn’t freeze them long enough, and flattened them. I may have made them too big, but they look and smell great. They are cooling now!!!
I can see making them without cherries on St. Patrick’s Day and trying other flavors with other types of pudding. So exciting!
yes, definitely. I wish I knew which site copied them?
Haven’t made them yet, but they sound great, but your opening water cooler story was really scary and I am (and I’m sure you and your family are) so happy and relieved you just happened to be watching TV at the time. It is not just your talent for selecting foods/ recipes that you have been blessed with As many emails as I get, wouldn’t skip one of yours, the recipes and the stories that go with them are priceless. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Thanks John! That’s a very nice compliment. I appreciate it!
These cookies look so good! And I love that we have all the ingredients on hand already!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Thank you!
Wow. ..I have never received so many good things about my cookies, as when I served these. I couldnt keep them on the plate. 3 friends even contacted me for more . Thanks fo much for sharing this recipe of absolute deliciousness.
You are welcome!
These were, in the words of my daughter and husband, “Amazing!” They also got the, “Oh, oh, ooooooh” from my husband, which means they are a definite keeper, lol! I veganized them and also did mine a little different in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. I omitted the cherries and added mini chocolate chips sprinkled with green sugar. Thank you for a wonderful recipe. 🙂
I forgot to add that they held their shape so well that I had to flatten them a bit. Also, I found the amount of almond extract to be just right. 🙂
Awesome!
Brilliant. I’m going to have to try that.
I have made these a couple of times. They are super easy to make and come out consistent. I use dried cherries instead of maraschino. Doesn’t have the same festive look, but I like it better. I don’t see a need for green food coloring as the pistachio pudding gives it the nice shade of green. All in all they are pretty good and hold up a soft texture, but I find the almond extract a little bit overwhelming so next time I am going to either cut back on the volume or split it with clear vanilla or maybe even a touch of cherry extract.
Thanks for your feedback!