Pistachio Cream Cheese Cookies
My son-in-law is a big fan of pistachios. He looks forward to these buttery cookies at holiday time, but I make them for him more than just once a year. —Lily Julow, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 drops green food coloring
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
- 60 shelled pistachios (about 1/3 cup)
Reviews
Needs adjustments. Use regular sugar! I cut the powdered sugar to 1 cup and it was still overpoweringly sweet, and the cornstarch in the powdered sugar gives the cookies a bleh taste. I cut the vanilla to 1 teaspoon and added 1/4 teaspoon of pistachio extract (Watkins). You could use almond and get the same effect. I had a box of pistachio pudding, so I added that. I don’t know if it made any difference. The cream cheese should be enough to make the cookies good and rich, which they would be without the cornstarch in the powdered sugar. I reconstituted powdered cream cheese and used that. Worked great. 1-2 drops of food coloring aren’t nearly enough. I lost count, but you can tell by the color of the mixture. The dough handles beautifully and once chilled, cuts easily. My oven required more like 10-11 minutes. Very pretty cookies, just don’t use powdered sugar!
Was reading the reviews, has anyone tried to cut back on powder sugar? Adds a sweetness that enhances sweet and masks flavor.
You can't eat just one! Delicate, with a lot of pistachio flavor. They will be a great addition to my Christmas cookie platter.
I baked these in early March, for the cookie table at my son’s wedding. The main attraction was that they were green, and the wedding day was 3/17. Based on other reviews, I added a box of pistachio pudding and a tsp of pistachio extract. (Watkins, found at Walmart). That seemed to do the trick. They had a good pistachio flavor, and looked beautiful on the cookie trays. Pistachio is one of my DIL’s favorite flavors, so I’ll be making these again!! I gave it a 4 * rating because of all the additions needed
To Chefagogo -- great idea about adding the instant dry pudding mix, that will give it a kick. I wasn't going to make these after reading the reviews, but I think the pudding mix will make the difference. I will try it and update review later.3/12/18 -- Made the cookies yesterday. I added the dry instant pistachio pudding to the flour and didn't use the lemon peel, I subbed 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Well they are bland in taste even after my additions. It is basically a butter cookie with pistachios on the outside. The cookies are good but just not tasting the pistachio flavor. I really thought the dry instant pudding would have done it. But, they are pretty with the green and nuts on the side. I didn't add the pistachio nut on top and still pretty.
Has anyone tried adding instant pistachio pudding dry mix to cookie mix?
I looked forward to trying these cookies from the moment I saw them in Taste of Home. However, they ended up being a huge disappointment. While they were quite easy to make and look very pretty, they are very bland with no discernable pistachio flavor at all. I felt like it was a huge waste of money using all those pistachios when you couldn't even taste them. I won't be making these again.
It is true that these cookies have very little pistachio flavor, but they were such an attractive and easy cookie that I doctored the recipe, and now it is exactly what I want. I omit the lemon peel, and substitute almond extract for the vanilla. I really like the cream cheese dough, and they look fantastic on a cookie tray!
My mom made these last Christmas. They are pretty but I think next time I will add some almond extract and cherries as one of the reviews suggested.
I added very finely, almost powdered , pistachios to this and it turned out more flavorful. I also double the recipe and divided it in half before adding the pistachios and green. To the second half I added 18 finely minced and paper towel blotted maraschino cherries , two drops of almond flavoring, and a few drops of red food coloring. I rolled the pistachio in the nuts and the cherry in coconut. I put a pistachio on top of the green cookies and a half maraschino cherry on the pink cookies. They look beautiful on the serving tray and taste scrumptious. Will definitely make again.