Pistachio Pudding Cookie Bars with Chocolate Chips and Cherries

This morning, I saw a post on the Glue and Glitter facebook page about pistachio pudding cookies byThe Misfit Baker.  Little known fact: Jello Pistachio Pudding is one of those lovely accidentally vegan items.  You can make it with almond milk for extra nutty goodness or any plant milk.  I love making vanilla pudding with coconut milk for super indulgent comfort food.  The Misfit Baker recipe looked delicious, but I didn't have yogurt and didn't think it would work without.

So then I hitPinterest!  I found this recipe byThe Gold Lining Girl for Pistachio Sugar Cookie Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, and that proved to be a good jumping off point.

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I had two boxes of Pistachio pudding mix but then I made "Slimer Popsicles" for the kids for our Ghostbuster viewing day.  I simply followed the directions for regular pudding (using soy milk) and then put the prepared pudding in popsicle molds for delicious and creamy pudding pops.
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Here's What I Did:

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 box Pistachio Pudding mix 
​1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread, melted
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 soy milk (or other plant milk)
2 Tbsp aquafaba (the liquid drained from canned chickpeas)
1 tsp vanilla
6 or so maraschino cherries chopped into small pieces (I love this brand because they have no dyes)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I love these minis by Enjoy Life Foods)
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Gadgets
Parchment Paper
8in by 8in baking pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking pan with parchment paper.  A spray or spread of oil will just help it not stick a little extra.

​Blend dry ingredients; flour, pudding mix, sugar, and baking powder while melting butter in a small pan (cut it up to speed things along and don't cook it- just melt it).  In that same pan, mix in the rest of the wet ingredients and then pour them into the bowl of dry ingredients.  

Press the dough into the pan and make a nice gooey uniform cookie bar, then top with cherries and chocolate chips and press them down into the dough a bit.  

Bake for 18-20 minutes until sides are golden brown.  

They were a wildly big hit with my kids, neighbor kids, and my hubs (and I loved them too!).