These Easy Pistachio Bars are essentially sugar cookie bars flavored with pistachio pudding mix, topped with cream cheese frosting, and chopped pistachios! The pretty green color makes them as festive as they are delicious!
If you love pistachios make sure to try my Salted Honey Pistachio Cookies!
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If You Love Pistachios, These Pistachio Bars Are For You!
Pistachios are probably my most favorite type of nut. I have memories of my grandma eating the red shelled pistachios as a kid…remember those? Do they even still sell the red ones? And why did they do that? I need answers!!
Anyhow, I took my love for pistachios and morphed it into a chewy sugar cookie bar…AND I took a major shortcut on achieving the pistachio flavor! Keeping reading…
So to get that pretty green color, you could absolutely use green food coloring, but to mimic the pistachio flavor is a little trickier. You certainly can chop up the nuts and fold them into the batter, but that doesn’t really give the bars a uniform flavor…SOOOOO….I used Instant Pistachio Pudding mix! It’s really a simple and effective way to get that pistachio flavor, plus the pretty green color all in one easy shortcut.
AND to really amp up the pistachio flavor I added a hint of almond extract. Pistachios and almonds have a similar flavor and the addition of the almond extract compliments the pistachio flavor perectly. Plus, almond extract is easy to find and I wanted to make these bars as simple as possible!
Ingredients:
Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the full ingredient list and printable recipe!
- butter
- granulated sugar
- instant pistachio pudding mix
- eggs
- almond extract
- vanilla extract
- corn starch
- salt
- baking soda
- flour
I get this question a lot when I use pudding mix in recipes. When adding pudding into cookies you add it like you would a dry ingredient. You don’t make the pudding according to the package directions, unless otherwise stated. Just mix the dry pudding mix right into your bowl and mix it. It will add a chewiness and in this case flavor and color!
How To Store:
I top these Pistachio Bars with cream cheese frosting, so that means it’s best if they are kept in the refrigerator to store them. They will keep in the fridge for 5 days.
If you would prefer to be able to keep them at room temperature, no problem, you can use a Vanilla Buttercream frosting instead! They will be good airtight for up to 3 days!
And yes, they freeze great! Keep them airtight in the freezer for up to 30 days for best freshness!
Pistachio Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 bars 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These sweet sugar cookie-style bars are as pretty as they are tasty! If you love pistachios, these chewy bars topped with cream cheese frosting will satisfy your craving!
Ingredients
Bars:
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 (3.4- ounce) packages Instant Pistachio Pudding
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups all purpose flour
Frosting:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4– ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Bars: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13- inch baking pan with parchment paper. Coat with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamy. Add the dry pudding mix, eggs, almond extract, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and cornstarch and mix for 1 minute until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn the mixer to low speed and add in the flour, mixing until just combined.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden at the edges. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Frosting: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and cream cheese together on medium speed until creamy. Turn the mixer to low and add in the almond extract and powdered sugar. Mix for 30 seconds to combine and turn the mixer up to medium and mix for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until creamy and smooth.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled bars, and garnish with the chopped pistachios.
- Cut into bars when ready to serve.
Notes
Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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Can you send me the amounts of each ingredient? Imperial Sugar dies not have this in their website anymore.
I ended my partnership with Imperial this year and looks like they stripped my recipes from their site! I added the full recipe here for you! Thanks so much!
These are good…..remind me of a cake we made in the 70s or 80s called Watergate cake. My bars weren’t chewy but more cake-like, but that didn’t matter, they still tasted good.
This recipe sounds ideal for our St,Patrick’s day one thing I have to ask is what is a pudding mix? Here in Ireland we have custard piwder mix or Angel Delight instant mix so could I use that. Would love to know, thank you.