Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

My grandfather was a very active man. In the last few years of his life after my grandma had passed away, he lived with my parents. Even though he was 89 years old, he still enjoyed hiking at the local state parks and walking around the indoor track at the local high school as part of the town senior center. Every day he would drive to the track and walk at least a mile with one of the ladies from the senior center (after all, once you're 89 its mostly ladies at the center as all the men have died off). One day in December, my grandfather drove to the track, began to walk around it and had to sit down to catch his breath. It was there that he passed away quickly and painlessly from a heart attack.

I don't mean to tell this story as a sad one, but rather to show the commitment to physical activity that my grandfather had. When he passed away my parents hosted visiting hours at their house the day before the funeral. (That is a WHOLE other story - he narrated his own life video and had us show it at his funeral, talk about creepy!). At the visiting hours my brothers and I chuckled at all the ladies from the senior center who knew exactly how to work the situation. They came in, signed the guest book, walked straight to the food, filled up a plate and claimed seats around the dining room table. I suppose at a certain age going to visiting hours for a deceased friend is pretty common.

The biggest hit at the visiting hours was a batch of cookies brought over by a neighbor. They were so good that no only did myself and my sister-in-law ask for the recipe from my mom's neighbor. BUT, one of the cute little ladies from the senior center even wrote a thank you note to my mom for hosting the visiting hours and asked her to pass along the recipe if possible.

Now these cookies aren't necessarily healthy but they are a tasty treat! They are small cookies so I suppose if you can stop yourself from eating 5 of them they could be calorie controlled. The key ingredient in these is pistachio pudding mix. I've tried the same recipe with other flavor of pudding mixes and never have liked it as much as the cute green originals. Give it a try!

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) margarine
2 boxes instant pistachio pudding mix
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
12 oz. bag chocolate chips

Mix together until well blended margarine and pudding mix. Once well blended, add in egg. Stir in flour and baking soda. Once well combined stir in chocolate chips with wooden spoon.

Spoon by level tablespoon (they are small cookies) onto baking sheet. They don't spread out much but give them about an inch between cookies. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes. They should not turn brown.

Makes 60 cookies.

Per cookie (good luck eating just one!)
74 calories
4.8 g fat
7.1 g carbohydrate
0.3 g fiber
1 g protein

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