Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

I've been finding way too many yummy looking Christmas treats via Pinterest recently.  I thought these cranberry pistachio cookies from The Girl Who Ate Everything blog looked quite yummy and decided I needed to try them.

I was quite surprised to find that they were made using a Betty Crocker cookie mix. I normally do not make cookies from a mix, but decided to give them a try.  Well, they are ridiculously easy and amazingly rich, soft, and chewy! They are my new favorite! Since pistachios are quite expensive, I made a slight change to the original recipe by using less pistachios (a half cup).

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

Ingredients

1 (1 lb 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 box (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs

a few drops green food coloring (optional)

1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl stir the cookie mix, pudding, and flour together. Add melted butter, eggs, food coloring. Stir until blended.

3. Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper.  (I used a Silpat mat instead, and it worked perfectly!)

5.  Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake or they will not be soft and chewy!  Take them out when they are set but not browned.  They will still look unbaked, but let them cool for about 2 minutes, then remove and let them cool on a wire baking rack.  Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.