Grinch Crinkle Cookies

Tis the season for cookies, and 2020 Christmas is the season for Grinch Crinkle Cookies!

There might not be cookie exchanges or get togethers but it wouldn’t be the holiday season without COOKIES!
Yep another Grinch recipe because it’s my spiritual animal this holiday season. Nope not a Grinch, I actually LOVE Christmas but since it isn’t the same and we can’t be with family and friends it’s my inspiration for the year.

I cannot tell you how many batches of Grinch Crinkle Cookies I’ve made this year. Recipe testing with the family home or me in the kitchen late at night is not a good idea. They all have their favorite versions and of course like them all but certain ones so I’m sharing all 3, the only difference is the amount of sugar and using food coloring vs not (there is still coloring in the Pistachio Pudding).

A cross between a crinkle cookie and a sugar cookie these cookies are being devoured in our house. Good thing a batch only makes 12 and they’re super simple! So if you only want a small batch you aren’t left with a bunch of extras. Although tis the season to give which is also why I’m making extras, sharing is carrying (unless it’s germs, nobody wants those).

These are perfect for kids to help make as all you have to do is mix up the ingredients, scoop, roll into balls, and bake. After they cool pipe on some Grinch faces. A helped me make some and it was interesting as all of her Grinch faces looked happy.

Made Pistachio Pudding, it seems to be a staple ingredient in our house this holiday season. If you need nut free I would recommend making them with vanilla pudding, coloring would need to be added to make them green. I planned to test this out but both stores I placed orders with last week were out of vanilla pudding so I wasn’t able to. I will update when I do, if you try it before I do please let me know how it goes. If you’re buying Pistachio Pudding to make these cookies buy a couple extra boxes so you can make my Grinch Loaf, a recipe coming next week, Watergate Salad (we’re making it for our Grinch Dinner and calling it Cindy Lu Salad, yes in Minnesota we have salads that are jello and have no veggies I still can’t comprehend at my age), or more cookies!

With all the cookies, and other goodies during the season, enjoy a Green Grinch Smoothie to keep the grinchy gut at bay. My kind of balance this time of year and the kids favorite smoothie combo right now.

To also help balance, or start 2021 off,  check out the So Good So You Giveaway on my Instagram (enter before December 24th, 2020). They’re giving one lucky follower a dozen probiotic juice shots. Such a great company with great products, and they donated to The Sheridan Story (local charity to fight childhood hunger) on my behalf.

Don’t forget to check out more recipes below for Meatless Monday. One of the last Meatless Mondays Deborah and I will be hosting as we’ll be changing things up in 2021! Sad to see it end after all these years but excited for what’s to come!

Print Recipe

Grinch Crinkle Cookies

Grinch Crinkle Cookies are perfect for the 2020 holiday season, because no holiday season is complete without cookies!

Course

Dessert, Snacks

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Passive Time

1 hour

Servings

cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2-1 c granulated sugar*
• 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 1 c all purpose flour
• 1 3.4 oz box Jello Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-3 drops green food coloring gel, optional
• 3-4 TBSP chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate

Course Dessert, Snacks Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Passive Time 1 hour Servings cookies Ingredients 1/2-1 c granulated sugar* 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 large egg room temperature 1 c all purpose flour 1 3.4 oz box Jello Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 2-3 drops green food coloring gel, optional 3-4 TBSP chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with a silicone mat and set aside.
3. Beat sugar and butter together for a minute or two with a hand mixer (or stand mixer if making a double batch).
4. Add in vanilla extract and egg and beat together until combined.
5. Add flour, pudding mix, baking soda, and salt.
6. If you want greener cookies add a couple drops of green food coloring (I use 2 drops of green gel color).
7. Use a ice cream scoop to scoop the dough (a scant ice cream scoop) into 12 cookies.
8. Roll dough into uniform balls and place on a baking sheet 6 at a time (these do spread).
9. Bake for 15 minutes.
10. Cool for 5 minutes before moving to a wire cooling rack.
11. Once completely cooled melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave in 10 second intervals, mixing between, until just melted.
12. Put chocolate into a pipping bag or you can use a Ziploc bag and snip a small hole in the corner.
13. Pipe faces and let set (about 10 minutes) before storing in an airtight container.
14. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

See photo above, the less green cookies are made with 1/2 cup sugar and no added food coloring. Using 3/4 cups of sugar is closest to a thick sugar cookie. Using 1 cup of sugar makes them the most crinkly and a thinner chewy cookie.

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