Easy, bakery-style pistachio muffins have tall, crunchy sugared pistachio muffin tops with moist, fluffy insides. Using pistachio pudding mix (just like the bakery versions), these pistachio nut muffins use only two bowls, are ready in 30 minutes, and can be made jumbo or regular-sized.
Bakery-style muffins are the best kind of muffins, in my opinion. They have high, craggily tops, crunchy sugar and toppings, and feel like such a treat to make and enjoy at home.
These pistachio pudding muffins follow my fool-proof method of creating domed muffin tops, just like in these gingerbread muffins, homestyle blueberry muffins, cinnamon crunch muffins, banana nut muffins, butter rum muffins, and pumpkin muffins!
These are the BEST pistachio muffins! Readers love this tried and true recipe. Especially because they're made with mostly pantry staples you'll already have on hand. And, if you're looking for a fun way to celebrate with kids, call them St. Patrick's Day muffins and add a rainbow topper to the dome!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy to make - using two bowls, these pistachio muffins come together in 10 minutes, and bake for less than 20! They'll be on your table in 30 minutes, and are best enjoyed warm straight out of the oven.
Crispy and fluffy - The crunchy pistachio pieces and coarse sugared tops give the perfect crispy contrast to the moist, spongey insides. Isn't that what a bakery-style muffin is all about?!
Flavor-packed - Thanks to the pistachio pudding mix, almond extract, and chopped pistachios, these muffins have tons of flavor, are the perfect amount of sweet, and leave you longing for another bite!
We really love pistachio baked goods at TCP, so you should also try your hand at cranberry pistachio biscotti, baklava cookies, pistachio babka, baklava cheesecake bars, and baklava cake!
Ingredients
Most of these ingredients are household staples you'll already have at home!
- Pistachio instant pudding mix. This is what provides the expected color and flavor, and also helps to thicken the batter and keeps them super moist from the milk powder! Instructions are included to omit this ingredient.
- Baking powder. This is the main ingredient to get those tall muffin tops, so be sure it's not expired!
- Dairy. Sour cream and whole milk are needed and should be at room temperature for best results. Use full-fat versions of both.
- Fats. Both butter and a neutral oil (canola or vegetable) are used. The butter adds flavor, while the oil add moisture.
- Extracts. Both vanilla and almond extract are used to help bring out the pistachio flavor.
- Coarse sugar. Turbinado or Demerara sugar will work. This addition is crucial to recreating the bakery style version!
- Pistachios. They can be salted or unsalted, and given a rough chop.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- To make the pistachio muffins without pudding mix, simply omit the mix and add an extra two tablespoons of flour. Additionally, add 1 teaspoon of almond extract and up to ⅔ cup of very finely chopped pistachios.
- Substitute full-fat greek yogurt (unflavored) for the sour cream.
- Add up to ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, white chocolate chips or chocolate chips to the batter.
- Rub 2 tablespoons of lemon zest into the sugar before mixing in the ingredients for a lighter, brighter version.
- Substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour for extra-tender muffins.
- For a gluten free version, use Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in place of all-purpose flour.
- Mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of milk, and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla to make a vanilla glaze for the pistachio pudding muffins.
How to Get Domed Muffin Tops
- Rest the batter while you preheat the oven. Because this recipe uses baking powder, the first activation of the rise happens when it's combined with liquid. The extra rest time allows it to give a bit of lift before adding it to the oven.
- Use two muffin tins and alternate the openings. For example, fill the top middle hole, fill the outer two holes on the second row, the middle hole of the third row, and the outer two holes of the bottom row. This allows air to circulate and give the muffins extra rise.
- Fill the batter to the top! For cupcakes, you never want to fill the batter past ¾ full, but for muffins, we want to go the whole way to the top!
- Start the muffins at very high heat, then reduce it for the rest of the baking time. The second activation of baking powder happens from heat. Adding the muffins to a very hot oven gives them an initial spring and nice crunchy top.
How to Make This Recipe
One: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
Two: In another large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, butter, and oil.
Three: Add the sour cream, milk, and vanilla and almond extracts and whisk to combine.
Four: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to carefully fold it together.
Five: The finished batter will be very thick. Allow it to rest while the oven preheats.
Six: Add liners to a muffin tin and fill each cup the whole way to the top.
Tip #1 - Use a large cookie scoop to easily and cleanly add the muffin batter to the openings.
Tip #2 - For extra tall, domed muffin tops, use two muffin tins, only filling 6 of the openings (leaving an opening in between each muffin). Bake on two different racks, and switch at the halfway mark.
💌 Save This Recipe
Send this recipe directly to your inbox and stay up to date with new recipes!
Seven: Sprinkle the tops with chopped pistachios and coarse sugar, then bake.
Eight: Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack so the bottoms don't get soggy. Enjoy!
How to Make Jumbo Muffins
To make these pistachio muffins jumbo size, follow all the same instructions to mix up the batter, as well as the same heating instructions.
Fill 6 holes of a jumbo muffin tin with the batter, sprinkle with pistachios and sugar, then bake for the 5 minutes at 425℉. Reduce the oven temperature and continue baking for another 23-25 minutes.
Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center. It should come out with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter.
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients (eggs, milk, sour cream). This allows the batter to mix up very smooth.
- Measure the flour using a digital scale or with the fluff, spoon, and level method. This is a thick batter, so adding too much flour will make them dense.
- Don't over mix the batter. It's ok for muffin batter to have some lumps! Over mixing can cause dry, rubbery muffins.
- Rest the batter while you preheat the oven. This helps get tall muffin tops.
- Fill the muffin openings to the top - every last bit of batter gets used!
- If you're not using paper liners, be sure to grease each muffin hole well with nonstick cooking spray.
Recipe FAQs
The key to this is to fold the batter just until the flour is barely combined (don't whisk!). Over mixing the batter can lead to dense muffins. Additionally, using the correct amount of flour is very important. Too much flour will also lead to dry, dense muffins.
This is due to the added color in the pistachio pudding mix. If you're not using the mix, you can just add a touch of green food coloring, or add up to ½ cup of very finely ground pistachios.
Pistachio muffins are actually flavored like almonds. Most commercial pistachio items actually contain almond flavoring over pistachio flavoring, which is why most pistachio ice creams taste like almond!
Either raw or roasted pistachios can be used. There are also salted and unsalted versions, but there's not too much salt on them, so use whatever you can find!
Just be sure to make sure they don't have shells on, or you'll have to shell them yourself.
Nope! You can simply grease the muffin wells with nonstick spray. However, I like to use liners for ease of cleaning, they protect the muffin from drying out, and they help keep the structure if you're transporting them to friends or family.
Not in this recipe. Cook and serve pudding is exactly as it sounds - you have to cook it, first! The instant variety allows you to mix it right into the batter.
Storage
Store the muffins lightly covered at room temperature for up to four days. You want to leave them partially uncovered so the air can circulate...otherwise the tops get soggy!
The tops will remain crispy for about two days. After that, you'll want to pop them in a 357℉ oven for about 5 minutes to re-crisp the tops.
Freezing
To freeze the muffins, allow them to cool fully then wrap each muffin in plastic wrap and place in a zip top bag and remove all the air. Freeze the muffins for up to two months. Allow the muffins to thaw at room temperature completely uncovered and unwrapped.
To reheat the muffins, add to the microwave for 20-30 seconds or to a 375℉oven for about 5 minutes. I prefer the oven method to re-crisp the top.
More Sweet Breakfast Recipes You'll Love
What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
Did you make this recipe? Share it with us! Tag @thecozyplum on Instagram & Facebook and leave a star rating ⭐️ below!
📖Recipe
Bakery Style Pistachio Muffins
Equipment
- Whisk
- Standard muffin tin
- Cupcake liners optional
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pack instant pistachio pudding mix 3.4oz
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream room temperature
- ⅓ cup whole milk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup turbinado sugar for tops
- ½ cup pistachios shelled and roughly chopped
Instructions
- Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (or lightly grease the openings).
- Whisk together the flour, pistachio pudding, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 pack instant pistachio pudding mix, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and butter until combined.¾ cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup unsalted butter
- Pour in the sour cream, milk, and extracts, and whisk to combine.½ cup full-fat sour cream, ⅓ cup whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to slowly mix and fold the batter together. Be sure to scrape down to the bottom to get any flour that has sunk. Don't over mix - the batter will be quite thick.
- Allow the batter to rest while you preheat the oven to 425℉.
- Scoop the batter evenly between the liners and top with coarse sugar and chopped pistachios.⅓ cup turbinado sugar, ½ cup pistachios
- Bake at 425℉ for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375℉ and bake for an additional 13-15 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center with come out with moist crumbs, but no wet batter.
- Transfer the tin to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the tin to finish cooling.
Bree says
I made these yesterday and oh my goodness!! Literally the best pistachio muffin I've ever had! I have 4 left and don't want to see them go just yet, haha. Also, I was out of regular sour cream, but was able to use my vegan sour cream and they came out amazing! Hope that helps any dairy-free bakers out there wanting to try these. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing recipe with us!
Callan Wenner says
Oh this is great news!! Thanks for reporting back on the swaps!
Jennifer Jones says
Made these for a DnD session with my friends. I had extra pudding mix that was getting a little old and figured these wouldn't be messy. Oh. My. God. Delicious. Only 3 people ended up trying them, but I polished the rest of them off the next day so more for me! Very easy and very tasty. I didn't feel like being fancy and adding the decorative pieces on top and I ended up adding 3 tbsps of ground pistachios to the batter for some extra flavor. Am baking another batch tonight.
Callan Wenner says
Thanks so much for sharing! Honestly, I wouldn't be mad to have all of the leftovers for myself 😉 Enjoy!
Barbara says
Can buttermilk be used in this recipe instead of 2% or whole milk?
Callan Wenner says
Yes!