Spumoni Whippersnapper Cookies

## Book Reference

Banana Cream Pie Murder

* DO NOT preheat oven yet. This dough has to chill.

### Ingredients

* 1 box *(approximately 18 ounces)* white cake mix, the kind that makes a 9-inch by 13-inch cake *(I used Duncan Hines Classic White)*
* 1 package Instant Pistachio pudding mix *(I used Jell-O, the kind that makes 4 half-cup servings)*
* 1 large egg, beaten *(just whip it up in a glass with a fork)*
* several drops of green food coloring, if desired
* 2 and ½ cups of thawed Cool Whip *(measure this—a tub of Cool Whip contains a little over 3 cups and that's too much!)*
* ½ cup chopped pistachio nut meats *(measure after chopping)*
* ½ cup chopped dried cherries *(I used Mariani brand)*
* ½ cup powdered *(confectioners')* sugar
* small jar of red maraschino cherries, cut in half vertically and without stems.

**Hannah's 1st Note:** *Notice that the measurement for the Cool Whip is different in this whippersnapper recipe. That's because of the added dry pudding mix. It's 2 and a HALF cups of thawed Cool Whip.*

**Hannah's 2nd Note:** *If you can't find pistachio nut meats, don't bother cracking all those pistachios. Just use chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds instead. The taste will be different, but it will be good.*

**Hannah's 3rd Note:** *If you can't find dried cherries, you can use cherry-flavored Craisins instead.*

### Directions

* DO NOT preheat oven yet. This dough has to chill.
* Pour the dry white cake mix into a large bowl.
* Add the dry pistachio instant pudding mix. Mix until the dry ingredients are well combined. *(I used a fork to do this.)*
* Use a smaller bowl to mix the two and a HALF cups of Cool Whip with the beaten egg. Add the green food coloring, if desired. Mix until everything is combined, but don't overmix.
* Fold in the chopped dried cherries and the chopped nuts. Mix well, but very gently.
* Add the Cool Whip mixture to the cake and pudding mixture in the large bowl. STIR VERY CAREFULLY with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir only until everything is combined. You don't want to stir all the air from the Cool Whip.
* Cover your bowl of dough and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This will make it less sticky. If you try to form the cookie dough balls right now, they'll stick to your fingers and be very difficult to roll.

**Hannah's 4th Note:** *Andrea said she sometimes mixes whippersnapper dough before she goes to bed on Friday night, sticks it in the refrigerator, and bakes her cookies with Tracey on Saturday morning.*

**Andrea's 1st Note:** *If it's close to Christmastime and you're planning to make these cookies for Christmas, add a few more drops of green food coloring to the Cool Whip mixture so that your cookies will be Christmas colors, red from the cherries you'll place on top of each cookie and green from the food coloring in the dough.*

* When your cookie dough has chilled and you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F and make sure the rack is in the middle position. DO NOT take your chilled cookie dough out of the refrigerator until after your oven has reached the proper temperature.
* While your oven is preheating, prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.
* Place the confectioner's sugar in a small, shallow bowl. You will be dropping cookie dough into this bowl to form dough balls and coating them with the powdered sugar.
* When your oven is ready, take your dough out of of the refrigerator. Using a teaspoon from your silverware drawer, drop the dough by rounded teaspoonful into the bowl with the powdered sugar. Roll the dough around with your fingers to form powdered-sugar-coated cookie dough balls.

**Hannah's 5th Note:** *This is easiest if you coat your fingers with powdered sugar first and then try to form the cookie dough into balls. When your fingers get covered with dough, simply wash them off under running water. It also helps if you put no more than one dough ball in the powdered sugar at a time. It gives you more room to roll and it keeps unrolled dough balls from sticking to each other.*

* Place the sugared cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies on a standard-size sheet.
* If you haven't already done so, cut your maraschino cherries in half and place one half, rounded side up, on top of each cookie ball on your baking sheet.

**Andrea's 2nd Note:** *Make only as many cookie dough balls as you can bake at one time and then cover the dough and return it to the refrigerator. I have a double oven so I prepare 2 sheets of cookies at a time.*

* Bake your Spumoni Whippersnapper Cookies at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. Test for doneness by tapping them lightly with a finger to see if they're "set."
* Let your cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

*(This is a lot easier if you line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Then all you have to do is grab one end of the parchment paper and pull it, cookies and all, onto the wire rack.)*

* Once the cookies are completely cool, store them between sheets of waxed paper in a cool, dry place. *(Your refrigerator is cool, but it's definitely not dry!)*

**Yield**: 3 to 4 dozen soft, chewy cookies. Your yield will depend on cookie size.

## Conversion Charts

See Baking Conversion Chart for non-USA baking conversions.