Pistachio Muffins

What are pistachios?

The pistachio nut originates from Central Asia and the Middle East. These beautifully green nuts or seeds form part of the cashew family and are commonly used in ice cream, kulfi, halva, and baklava. They can be enjoyed raw (fresh), or salted and roasted.

Why You Will Love These Pistachio Muffins

• These soft, moist, delicious white chocolate pistachio muffins are super easy to make!
• They make a great addition to the school or work for lunch pack.
• A great treat to add to the weekend brunch table.
• They come together in a few minutes.
• A pistachio muffin would make a great St. Paddy's day snack.

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Butter adds flavor, softness, and moisture and sometimes aids in the leavening of baked goods. I use New Zealand butter in my recipes, which has approximately 82% butterfat and can be very yellow (similar to European or Irish butter). Butter cannot be substituted with butter or margarine spreads, but it can be substituted with baking margarine.

Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.

Plain/all-purpose/standard grade flour can be substituted on a 1-to-1 basis for recipes that have ½ to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per 125 grams/1 cup of flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 teaspoon per cup, add the extra baking powder to the recipe to make up the difference. Self-raising/rising flours may already contain salt so this may need to be omitted from the recipe as well.

White sugar gives this muffin sweetness and moisture.

Test the freshness of your baking powder by placing a small amount in a few drops of boiling water. If it bubbles and fizzes, it's good to use!

White chocolate chips complement the pistachios and add a nice little burst of white chocolate flavour to the muffins.

Pistachios - I used raw pistachios that I then toasted in the oven for 5 minutes. You can also use raw pistachios.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Use room-temperature ingredients! Using room temperature ingredients ensures that ingredients in the batter or dough will incorporate easier. Take note that room temperature refers to around 20°C/68F.

• To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them into warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• To bring butter to room temperature quickly, cut the butter into cubes and zap it in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or place the cubes in a bowl over warm water (such as with a double boiler) over low heat for 1 minute!
• Milk, buttermilk, and cream can be brought to room temperature by zapping in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or on low heat for a minute or two swirling every 10-15 seconds.
• If the butter is too warm/soft for baking - pop it into the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

How to Make Pistachio Muffins

Step 1 - Preheat & Prep

Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

Step 2 - Toast the pistachios

Toss the raw pistachios onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Allow the nuts to cool a bit before roughly chopping using a serrated bread knife.

Step 3 - Combine the dry ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Whisk to combine. Then toss in the white chocolate chips and chopped pistachios. Mix to coat the nuts and chocolate chips with the flour.

Step 4 - Prepare the wet ingredients

In a mixing bowl melt the butter either in the microwave or in a medium saucepan over low heat. Allow the butter to cool before adding in the eggs, milk, yoghurt, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Step 5 - Mix the batter

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix through until just combined.

Step 6 - Divide and top the muffins

In a small bowl, combine the raw sugar and 2 tablespoons of chopped pistachios. Mix to combine. Divide the muffin batter between the 12 cupcake liners, filling them almost to the top. Sprinkle the muffins with approximately ¾ to 1 teaspoon of the sugar-pistachio mix.

NOTE: Depending on the size of your cupcake liners (there is a slight variation in volume globally), this batter may make up to 15 muffins.

Step 7 - Bake, cool, and serve

Bake the muffins at 200°C/390°F for 5 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 180°C/355°F and bake for a further 12 to 15 minutes until just baked. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before cooling on a wired cooling rack. Serve & Enjoy.

Ovens & Air Fryers

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F.

For baking, make sure the oven is fully preheated, and that the rack is in the middle of the oven. Open the oven as little as possible. For best baking results use an oven thermometer.

Remember that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted for your specific oven.

Bakeware

Metal bakeware (if you can, choose light-coloured bakeware for an even better bake) is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes. These heat up and cool down faster than glassware. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down slower than metal, and is more suited for bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles, and cobblers.

Baking Tall Moist Muffins

• A hot preheated oven is key to a great oven spring and tall bakery-style muffins.
• Mix the ingredients until just combined and no more!
• Do not overbake the muffins. Once the temperature has been turned down, check the muffins at the 12-minute mark. If the toothpick/cake tester comes out mostly clean the muffins are done.
• Check more than 1 muffin when testing the doneness - to make sure that you haven't just hit a pocket of chocolate.

Storage and Freezing

These pistachio muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days. If you stick them in the fridge, for up to a week. To freshen up the muffin, pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Pistachio Muffin FAQ