Pistachio Muffins

in Breakfast, Muffins and Scones

Pistachio Muffins

My husband loves pistachios. I mean really loves pistachios. He eats them for a snack. He requests pistachio-crusted chicken for dinner weekly. So when we walked by the bakery of our grocery store and he spotted a stack of 6-pack of jumbo pistachio muffins… As far as he was concerned, breakfast couldn’t get here soon enough!

Pistachio Muffins

We opened the container of muffins the next morning and were kicked in the face by almond extract. The muffins were electric green when we broke them open – like Incredible Hulk green. As in our insides will be bright green for weeks. After reading the label I was really irritated. To be called “Pistachio Muffins,” shouldn’t there be pistachios somewhere in the ingredient list? Food coloring, almond extract, and walnuts (of all things). Boo.

A recipe for pistachio muffins proved almost impossible to find so I started with a peanut butter muffin. We ended up with a moist, tender, and most definitely not Hulk-Green muffin that was full of enough pistachio goodness to make my husband eat three fresh from the oven. They were excellent served warm with butter and a cold glass of milk.

Pistachio Muffins

Moist muffins made with pistachios and homemade pistachio butter.

Ingredients

  • For the Homemade Pistachio Butter
  • 1/2 lb shelled pistachios, unsalted
  • 2 tsp-1 Tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
  • For the Muffins
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup pistachio butter
  • 2 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 cup pistachios (reserved from Pistachio Butter)
  • Demera sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. If the pistachios are not roasted, preheat oven to 325. Spread pistachios in single layer on baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool.
  2. Set aside 1/2 cup pistachios. Place rest of pistachios in a food processor and process until finely ground. Stream in 2 tsp peanut or vegetable oil. Scrap sides often. When ready, consistency will be paste-like but won't be as creamy-smooth as the store-bought peanut butter (this takes several minutes).
  3. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners. Run the reserved pistachios through the food processor for 10-15 seconds, until chopped.
  4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, pistachio butter, and brown sugar until well combined. Add 1 egg at a time. Add milk and almond extract and mix until well combined.
  5. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chopped pistachios. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups and sprinkle tops with Demera Sugar. Bake until a skewer inserted into the muffins comes out with moist crumbs, about 20 minutes.
  6. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan and remove. Excellent served warm with butter.

Notes

Yields: 12 muffins

Adapted from Baking Bites

Estimated time: 45 minutes

6 comments… add one
  • How can these storebought muffins even compare to your authentic homemade ones?! They just can’t. I hate buying those deliciously devilish muffins @ the store especially after reading the ingredient list. How disappointing to not find one pistachio in that mix…

  • This is such a fantastic idea for pistachios. Would go great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream

  • Alexandra

    These are baking in my oven right now…my apartment smells heavenly! I am a pistachio ADDICT so this recipe made my day!

  • Michelle

    I’ve been browsing pistachio dessert recipes for an hour now…this is the first one i’ve found using REAL pistachios and not the instant pudding mix…pistachios were on sale at the grocery store this week BOGO – so my Husband saw that i bought them and was so excited…i’ve recently developed a knack for baking and he mentioned that i should find something to bake with pistachios because he absolutely LOVES them. I just printed this recipe and i can’t WAIT to make these 🙂 Thank you so much!!!

  • Oh my goodness! I just made these over the weekend and while mine didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as yours – they were sooooo delicious!!!! They are a big hit at work! I will be mentioning your recipe on my blog tomorrow – don’t worry, YOU get all the credit! 🙂 Thank you so much for creating a pistachio recipe that actually has real pistachios in it! Believe it or not – those are hard to come by for some reason! 🙂

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