Meatless Monday Challenge

Pistachio Muffins (No Pudding Mix!)

on September 25, 2022
last updated June 13, 2024
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These fluffy Pistachio Muffins boast a nutty, sweet flavor without the pudding mix. Plus, they have the best crumbly top.
Pistachio Muffin with No Pudding Mix with bite taken out

Looking for a recipe for your favorite muffins that’s completely from-scratch, with real pistachios, and without any pre-made mixes? This recipe for Pistachio Muffins gives you that classic nutty flavor you love without pudding mix!

Think light and fluffy easy homemade muffins with a crispy, crunchy, extra nutty muffin top. They come together in just 25 minutes and in just one bowl.

Close up of Pistachio Muffins surrounded by shelled pistachios

As an advocate for green living, I am always trying to highlight sustainable ingredients.

Pistachios are part of a sustainable diet because they are grown locally (in the U.S.), and their production emits very low amounts of CO2 and does not pose any threat to air, land, water, and animals.

Green tip: Local foods have less associated transportation costs and fuel emissions.

Pistachio Muffins Ingredients


Here’s everything you need:

  • Granulated sugar.  For sweetness.
  • Pistachios. Roasted, salted, and shelled. I buy these.
  • Oil. Coconut, vegetable, or canola, or grapeseed preferred.
  • All-purpose flour. This acts as the base of your batter.
  • Baking powder. For rising.
  • Salt. To ramp up the other flavors.
  • Egg. Or a flax egg. It acts primarily as a binder in this recipe.
  • Vanilla extract. For extra flavor.
  • Milk. Cows or unsweetened nondairy.
  • Butter. Just 1 tablespoon for the crumbly top.
overhead view of all ingredients - baking powder, egg, vanilla extract, sugar, flour, milk, oil, pistachios, butter, salt

Pistachio Muffins Tips and Tricks


Create Pistachio Sugar

In order to equally distribute the nutty pistachio flavor into the muffins, the first step is to break it down into a fine dust.

Add the shelled pistachios to a food processor or high-powered blender with the sugar and process on high until there are no chunks remaining. This will form pistachio sugar that you’ll add both into your muffins and on top!

Using a food processor to combine pistachios with granulated sugar

Save Some for Later

Separate out 1/2 cup of the pistachio sugar and set it aside. Add the rest to a large mixing bowl to make your muffin batter.

Setting aside some pistachio and sugar mixture to

Start with the Oil

Start by whisking the oil and pistachio sugar together. Add the oil to the mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to mix the oil and pistachio sugar until well combined.

These muffins are best when they are not overmixed, so combining the ingredients in this order is the easiest way to get a smooth batter.

Adding oil to pistachio and sugar mixture to make muffins

Add the Dry Ingredients, then the Wet

Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix. Then, add the milk, vanilla extract, and egg.

Use the hand mixer on high to mix until you’re left with a silky-smooth batter.

Adding dry ingredient to muffin batter

Leave Some Space for Rising

Line or grease a muffin tin. I like to use a large cookie scoop to easily add the muffin batter into each baking cup.

Green tip: Consider these reusable silicone muffin tin liners to reduce your contribution to waste. They are naturally nonstick, easy to clean and last forever!

Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way, leaving some room for the muffins to rise without overflowing too much.

Filling muffin cups with batter

Add the Crumble on Top

Make your crumble top by melting the butter and mixing it with the pistachio sugar you previously set aside.

One tablespoon of butter will melt quickly in the microwave. Add it to a microwave-safe dish and microwave on high in 10-second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted.

Use a fork or whisk to combine the melted butter with the pistachio and sugar mixture, and then use clean hands to crumble about 1/2 teaspoon of the crumble-top mixture onto each muffin.

Then, bake for 15-17 minutes, until the crumble top is golden brown.

Crumbling buttery pistachio and sugar mixture on top of muffins

Storing Your Pistachio Muffins

These pistachio muffins without pudding mix should be covered or stored in an airtight container to keep them fresh as long as possible.

The muffins will stay moist and delicious at room temperature for 3-4 days before they start to dry out.

You can also freeze them to keep them fresh longer. They can be frozen for up to 6 months and easily thawed out at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

Dish filled with just-baked Pistachio Muffins

Wait! Why are my pistachio muffins green (or not green at all)?

Raw pistachios have a naturally green hue. Muffins that are naturally colored with real pistachios may or may not appear green, depending on the hue of the pistachios used. Mine had a slight outer green hue, but, when blended, just looked a more traditional nut color—so my pistachio muffins came out in the more classic muffin color or beigey-brown!

On the other hand, many other pistachio muffin recipes use pistachio pudding mix, which often has green food coloring added to it to make it appear more stereotypically pistachio-y (although recipes that actually use unadulterated pistachios in higher quantity don’t look this way at all!!).

Want to sharpen your kitchen skills?

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Why You Should Make these Pistachio Muffins with No Pudding Mix


  • The real pistachios! No artificial coloring or flavor here! Just real pistachios in every bite.
  • The texture. Light and fluffy muffins with a crispy crumbly muffin top.
  • The flavors. The perfect balance of nutty and sweet.

If you’re loving these Pistachio Muffins with No Pudding Mix, check out this 4-Ingredient Banana Bread and Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Pistachio Muffin with No Pudding Mix with bite taken out

Pistachio Muffins (No Pudding Mix!)

4.9 from 7 votes
Marley Goldin
SAVE RECIPE TO COLLECTION
PIN PRINT RATE
These fluffy and airy Pistachio Muffins boast a nutty, sweet flavor without the pudding mix. Plus, the crumbly top is the perfect finish to this moist muffin.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 15 muffins

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Roasted and salted shelled pistachios
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup oil (vegetable, canola, coconut, or grapeseed)
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup milk (cows or unsweetened non-dairy)
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 400°F and line or grease your muffin tins. (Try these reusable silicone baking cups to reduce your waste!)
  • Add the pistachios and sugar to a food processor or high-powered blender and blend on high until the nuts and sugar are broken down into a fine dust (about 30 seconds).
    Using a food processor to combine pistachios with granulated sugar
  • Separate out ½ cup of the pistachio sugar and set aside. Add the rest to a large mixing bowl with the oil. Use a hand mixer on high to quickly combine.
    Setting aside some pistachio and sugar mixture to
  • Add the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, egg, and milk and use the hand mixer on high to mix until smooth.
    Adding dry ingredient to muffin batter
  • Add the melted butter to the pistachio sugar you previously set aside and use a fork or whisk to combine to form a crumble for the top of your muffins.
  • Use a cookie scoop or spoon to fill each muffin cup ¾ of the way.
    Filling muffin cups with batter
  • Crumble about ½ teaspoon of the butter/pistachio sugar mixture on top.
    Crumbling buttery pistachio and sugar mixture on top of muffins
  • Bake for 15-17 until crumble top is golden brown.

Pro Tips

  • Make sure to only fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way to leave room for rising. 

Video

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snacks
Cuisine American
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword 30 Minutes or Less, Muffins, Pistachio Muffins
Did you make this recipe?Leave a comment and let me know what you think! And if you really enjoyed it, help power this website and buy me a coffee!

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6 thoughts on “Pistachio Muffins (No Pudding Mix!)”

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe is amazing was going to make my go to pistachio muffins but did not have pudding mix. This is now my go to. I made the crumble and it was a perfect consistency. Thanks

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed these as much as I do, Ron! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback.

    1. Hi Virginia!! To be completely transparent with you I have never tried avocado as a substitute for oil and butter (though it sounds promising). I only tested vegan butter substitutes and vegetable oil & coconut oil in liquid form. The butter in this recipe is just used to make a crumble for the top of the muffins, so my best guess would be to sub the avocado for the oil and skip the crumble top! If you do this, you will only need 3/4 cup pistachios and 3/4 cup sugar and just skip the part in step 2 that has you set some of the pistachio/sugar mixture to the side (and skip steps 5 and 7). Let me know how it works!

  2. 4 stars
    It tasted amazing, but I would definitely use less butter next time, or don’t melt it. It wasn’t crumbly. It was more like a runny paste that I drizzled on top. Also, I will probably use less flour next time or more milk because the batter was pretty thick so the muffins were fairly dense. This was my first time using this recipe though. I would still recommend:) it was very good anyways

    1. So glad you loved the flavor, Miley!! I’m sorry the crumble top didn’t work out! I’m curious- did you blend the sugar and pistachio into a fine dust? I’d love to figure out what went wrong there so I can be more clear with my instructions 🙂

4.86 from 7 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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