Friday, January 26, 2007

Happy Pistachio Day!

Well, I learned from Hungry Girl that today is National Pistachio day. These are very healthy nuts. They have less fat than other nuts and you can eat a lot more (45 nuts) in one serving than other nuts. A while back I decided to revisit a recipe and tweak it a little so that I could make it a pistachio cookie. In addition to having pistachios, this cookie has oatmeal and uses sugar free, fat free pudding. The pudding gives the cookies an interesting but good flavor. They don't really turn out green, which I thought would have been fun. Hey, you could make these at St. Patrick's day and use food coloring to color them! Enjoy!

Pistachio Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
1 cup butter flavored shortening, I just used regular flavor
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (3.5 ounce) package sugar free, fat free pistachio pudding mix
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, cream together shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth (several minutes). Blend in instant pudding, then beat in eggs until the batter is light and fluffy. Combine flour and baking soda; mix into the batter. Stir in oats and nuts. Dough will be stiff. Drop dough by spoonfuls (I use my cookie scoop) onto the baking sheets or stones. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on wire racks.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those cookies look great, Claire! I think the only pistachios I have in the house right now are some chile lime ones. Don't think that'll work ...

Unknown said...

Alisha - Thanks! You'll have to get some regular ones...I don't think the chile lime ones would taste very good either!

I have a request...rachel laudier, I would love to post comments on your blog but was blocked from that because only "team members" can post. Is there a way to fix this or do you prefer not to have comments? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Boy--those are some fabulous looking pistachios. I commend you for being able to actually put them in the cookies. When I shell them, I always wind up eating them!!!!

Anonymous said...

I could eat pistachios until I am green...cookies may slow me down a little. thanks!

Anonymous said...

I love pistachios and cranberries...yum.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

So glad you enjoyed the salmon! I like the cranberry and pistachio combo. I found a great pistachio encrusted chicken at Mimi's French Kitchen in America you might like.
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