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Cookie and salad – are those two things that can co-exist together? With this cooke salad recipe they can, but really this could just qualify as a dessert. Call it a salad and you can feel better as serving it as part of your meal. There is fruit it this so that helps qualify as healthy, right? And it has pudding so that is your dairy – right?
This all begins with making up a package of instant vanilla pudding mix with a cup of milk. Next, you fold in a 12 oz container of cool whip. Now, this is where the fruit and cookies come in. You add in pineapple, mandarin oranges, bananas, and marachino cherries along with broken fudge striped cookies. This all gets folded in to the pudding/Cool Whip mixture.
At this point if needs to go in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The pudding needs some time to set up. Plus, it also gives those ingredients some time to hang out and marry together.
This recipe is one that has been around a while here in Utah. I am not exactly sure where it came from but this is my version. It is delicious and my family looks forward to eating cookie salad! The cookies soften and it gets all yummy! I served mine up this time in individual bowls.
Cookie Salad
Ingredients
- 1 (3.4 oz) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
- 1 cup of milk
- 12 oz of cool whip
- 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits, drained
- 1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
- 2 bananas, sliced
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, halved and well drained
- 1 (11.5 oz) pkg. fudge stripped cookies, crushed (save a few if you want to garnish the salad)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding and milk until well blended. Fold in the cool whip.
- Then fold in the fruit and crushed cookies and refrigerate for at least one hour. Garnish with reserved cookies if desired.
12 comments
I have never had this salad before but I remember seeing it in a family (or maybe neighborhood) cookbook when I was a child and just learning to cook. The recipe for cookie salad in that cookbook said “15 cookies plus 3-4 extra for cook’s snacking”! When I was little I thought that was sooo “cool” that a recipe for a salad not only had cookies in it but also said to eat some of these cookies while cooking. Haha. I am seriously laughing just thinking about it!
I have never had this salad before but I remember seeing it in a family (or maybe neighborhood) cookbook when I was a child and just learning to cook. The recipe for cookie salad in that cookbook said “15 cookies plus 3-4 extra for cook’s snacking”! When I was little I thought that was sooo “cool” that a recipe for a salad not only had cookies in it but also said to eat some of these cookies while cooking. Haha. I am seriously laughing just thinking about it!
Jaw..open…never seen this before and my goodness why has it been kept a secret from me for so long! Lovely 🙂
Jaw..open…never seen this before and my goodness why has it been kept a secret from me for so long! Lovely 🙂
I see some recipes that use buttermilk instead of milk. Have you tried it that way and prefer it less tangy? I am taking dinner to some folks tonight and thought I would include this but am torn between using milk and buttermilk. I like your version with the extra fruit. Some only use mandarin oranges.
I haven’t done it with buttermilk. I just use skim milk. I do think the buttermilk would give it a slight tang.
I see some recipes that use buttermilk instead of milk. Have you tried it that way and prefer it less tangy? I am taking dinner to some folks tonight and thought I would include this but am torn between using milk and buttermilk. I like your version with the extra fruit. Some only use mandarin oranges.
I haven’t done it with buttermilk. I just use skim milk. I do think the buttermilk would give it a slight tang.
I’ve made this before… but also add Snickers minis (cut into quarters). Adds just that bit extra chocolate – and nuts, which are healthy too!!
I’ve made this before… but also add Snickers minis (cut into quarters). Adds just that bit extra chocolate – and nuts, which are healthy too!!
What a great idea. Looks healthy to me!
I’d eat this before, during, or after dinner. Well, maybe not before. Then it would just end up being my dinner!
What a great idea. Looks healthy to me!
I’d eat this before, during, or after dinner. Well, maybe not before. Then it would just end up being my dinner!