Pistachio Sugar Cookie Bars are easy to make, and so pretty! Pistachio pudding in the dough makes them extra soft, and cream cheese frosting and chopped pistachios make them extra yummy!
I’ve made regular sugar cookie bars and cherry cookie bars, and now I’m sharing a pistachio version. They are so yummy!
Pistachio Sugar Cookie Bars
If you’ve never made sugar cookie bars, you are really missing out. You get all the flavor of a sugar cookie in about half the time! No dragging out cookie cutters and a rolling pin. No flouring the counter. Just bake all the dough in one pan, frost, and cut into squares. So easy!
Pistachio pudding mix gives these bars an unbeatable flavor, and makes them extra soft. And of course the pistachios add a yummy crunch.
How to you make pistachio sugar cookie bars?
Start by creaming the butter, dry pudding mix, and sugar. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Then just stir in the dry ingredients.
Press the dough into a greased 9×13″ pan and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes or till golden brown around the edges.
After the bars have cooled, whip up a simple cream cheese frosting and spread it on top. Garnish with chopped pistachios if desired.
Cut into squares, serve, then stand back and wait for all the compliments. 🙂
These bars aren’t overly sweet, so the cream cheese frosting is a perfect addition. Chopped pistachios add a little bit of salt, and I love the depth of flavor they add. The almond extract really does boost the flavor, so I highly recommend using it. If you’re really opposed to it, you can just add more vanilla.
The green color of these bars make them perfect for both Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day. Of course they are so scrumptious that you can make them any time of year and everyone will rave over them.
I hope you’ll give them a try!
Here are a few more tasty bar cookies to try:
- Toffee Almond Bars
- Churro Cheesecake Bars
- Oatmeal Caramel Bars
- Golden Graham Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Cherry Bars
- Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Nut Bar Recipe
- Butterscotch Bars
- Snickerdoodle Blondies
Pistachio Sugar Cookie Bars Recipe
Pistachio Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Dough
- ¾ cup butter softened to room temperature
- 2 3.4oz boxes of instant pistachio pudding (just the dry mix)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- dash of salt
Frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup soft butter
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- dash of salt
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios for garnish optional
Instructions
- Cream butter, dry pudding mix, and sugar in a large mixing bowl till creamy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Press dough into the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes, or till lightly browned on the edges.
- Cool completely, then frost. Garnish with chopped pistachios.
- For frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter in a small mixing bowl till smooth. Add remaining ingredients and beat till smooth and creamy.
- Spread frosting over cooled bars and sprinkle chopped pistachios on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Pistachio bars are a fun and festive twist on traditional sugar cookie bars. They are perfect for Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day, but so tasty you will want to make them all year long!
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Made these last night and they were a hit! I might make a smidge more icing next time bc I love cream cheese icing. I was afraid they’d be too sweet but they were perfect with a big pinch of salt in the batter and nuts on top. Total crowd pleaser. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad they were a hit Jessica! Nothing wrong with a little extra cream cheese frosting. 🙂
Do the bars need to be refrigerated because of the frosting?
I don’t refrigerate them because the bar cookie gets hard when it’s cold. If your room temperature is really warm, you could store them well covered in the refrigerator, then bring them back to room temperature before serving.
Looks pretty easy to do. Which is good because I don’t do a ton of baking. 🤣
Yes, they are a pretty easy dessert. The hard part is not eating too many! 🙂
Can this be frozen.
Very tasty
I don’t usually freeze bars or cake with frosting, but you could try. If it were me, I’d freeze the bars and frosting separately, then thaw and frost them.
These bars are awesome.. I was told I can make them for all family events. I was wondering if anyone has made them with sugar free pudding and how they turned out.
These are so fantastic and are right up there in my top favourites. So delicious! I’m trying to figure out a way that these can be made into a cut out cookie that can be decorated. If you know, I’d sure love to try it!
So glad you love them, they really are so good! I would try just chilling, then rolling out a small amount of dough and baking one cookie. My guess is that it will spread too much, but it may work just fine. If it does spread too much, try adding more flour (1/4 cup maybe?), then try again. Let me know if you do try it!
Yum! Looks like a great spring treat!
Yes, they are perfect for spring with their pretty green color!
I loved this recipe!!
Are these bars good to freeze?
I think they would freeze just fine before you add the frosting.
I love Sugar Cookie Bars! I can’t wait to try this new recipe!
Same here – they are so easy, but so tasty! Hope you like this version. 🙂
Love the green color- so festive for Christmas parties!
These look so yummy!! We love pistachios!
These bars look fabulous!!
I love pistachio anything!! can’t wait to make these!
I need one of these! Yum!
My father in law loves pistachios, I’ll need to make this for him, next time they come to visit. He’ll be in heaven!
These bars are so buttery and delicious! Perfect for the holidays!