Saint Patrick's Pistachio Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Puree avocado in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and blend until creamy. Add applesauce, sugar, and milk; pulse to combine. Add egg; pulse until smooth. Add pudding mix, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt; pulse until dough is smooth and pastel green.

3. Place pistachio nuts in a resealable freezer bag and crush with a meat mallet. Add crushed pistachio nuts and flour to dough; pulse to combine.

4. Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets; flatten gently.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until bottoms are beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets, 5 to 10 minutes.

Cook's Note:

Grease baking sheets lightly instead of lining with parchment paper, if preferred.

Substitute vanilla extract with the scraped seeds of 1 fresh vanilla bean, or 1/8 teaspoon of pistachio flavoring.

I flatten the cookies with the end of the pusher from your food processor. If you don't flatten the cookies, they'll bake up in softly flattened mounds; they're lovely either way.