Pistachio Cherry Meltaways

Christmas Cookie #2! I have a couple of recipes planned this holiday season that are variations of the Russian Teacake/Mexican Wedding Cake, which is a shortbread cookie with nuts, covered in powdered sugar. Russian Teacakes are one of my favorite cookies ever, but they are so easy to make. This is a variation, with chopped maraschino cherries and pistachio pudding mix. Yum!

These cookies are not difficult to make, but the dough is quite sandy. Trying to gather the dough together into a whole in order to wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate was challenging. The dough did firm up and was less crumbly when shaping into balls, but it’s a strange balance between the cold dough and the slipperiness of the cherries. The cherries retain some moisture, no matter how much you drain them.

I shaped the dough into balls, the best I could, but they flatten/spread while baking. They had a little too much butter, which you can see when the cookies come out of the oven with lacy edges. I let my cookies cool about 10 minutes before covering with powdered sugar, and that’s best. The warmer the cookies are, the more the powdered sugar melts into the cookies. These cookies are soft, but they are so good! The pistachio flavor is a favorite, and paired with the cherries is so seasonal. If there was ever a time when I wanted a Grinch Christmas plate, this was it, but I had to make do with the green plate I had.

Pistachio Cherry Meltaways
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3.4-ounce package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
Green food coloring (about 2 drops)
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, dried and chopped finely
Additional powdered sugar

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter until light. Add the powdered sugar, pistachio pudding mix, and flour. Stir on low to combine. Add the almond extract and food coloring and stir to incorporate. Fold in the chopped maraschino cherries, taking care not to over mix.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set. Roll in additional powdered sugar after the cookies have cooled 10 minutes, and then place on a wire rack.

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything