Pistachio Muffins – Chelsea’s Messy Apron

These are the BEST Pistachio Muffins! They’re brightly flavored, moist, tender, and perfectly spiced. You won’t believe how quick and easy these are to make–they may just be the easiest muffin recipe ever!

Use leftover pistachios in this tasty Pistachio Cake, these honey Pistachio Cookies, or this appetizer-favorite Pistachio Goat Cheese Ball.

My Favorite Pistachio Muffin Recipe!

Typically, when I begin testing a muffin recipe to share on the website, I try to make it as nutritious as possible (without sacrificing flavor, of course!).

I like to feed my kiddos (and let’s be honest — myself!) muffins for breakfast, and my philosophy is that they should be at least somewhat wholesome. (Not just a cupcake without frosting, ha!)

And over the past nine years of making better-for-you muffin recipes, this Pistachio Muffin recipe has claimed its spot as my favorite muffin recipe ever. It not only stacks up phenomenally impressive health statistics, but it’s also ridiculously flavorful with the perfect moist and slightly dense texture. And we haven’t even talked about how quick and easy the batter is to make. Swoon!

 

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Healthy Pistachio Muffins

While the definition of “healthy” can differ from person to person, I would consider these to be very nutritious muffins. Here’s my reasoning:

• We add pistachios (of course). These nuts are loaded with good-for-you fats and nutrients, among other benefits.
• No refined sugar. See “quick tip” below for more info.
• No flour. We use plain old-fashioned oats and pistachios as the base.
• Protein-packed. Thanks to the nuts and eggs!
• Plant-based milk (almond milk).
• No artificial food colorings, pudding or gelatin mixes. These are pistachio muffins with real pistachios!

Why are Pistachio Muffins Green?

Typically, you’ll see the green color because there is some kind of artificial food coloring or pudding mix added. We avoid both of those additions in this recipe (we prefer Pistachio Muffins without pudding). That said, there is a very slight greenish-yellow hue– which is naturally derived from the natural color of the pistachios. The difference is that we don’t need to add artificial color to announce the pistachio presence in these muffins. One taste and you’ll know!

Pistachio Muffin Ingredients

Below are a few ingredients in these Pistachio Muffins that are worth diving deeper into:

• Pistachios. Save time (and your fingers!) by purchasing shelled pistachios. We love roasted and lightly salted pistachios best — more flavor without any extra effort on your part. (Here are the ones we use in these muffins.)
• Old-fashioned oats. Although it would make sense that any oats would work since they’re getting blended anyways, it’s important to use old-fashioned oats to ensure you get the right measurement. Both quick and steel-cut oats are smaller, denser, and more compact, so measurements would be off and the muffins would end up too dry.
• Almond milk. Any milk will work in these muffins; we like unsweetened vanilla almond milk best.
• Corn starch. This is an important ingredient since we aren’t using flour and need some additional support and thickness. Arrowroot powder also works well.
• Orange zest. We love the subtle flavor boost from the orange zest — a little goes a long way! Alternatively, make lemony Pistachio Muffins by using the zest of a lemon.

How To Make Pistachio Muffins

This recipe is quick and easy to make, but you do need a good, powerful blender (think Blendtec® or Vitamix®) to break down the pistachios and oats.

We blend the entire batter all at once — so easy, so quick!

Once the batter is fully blended and smooth, pour it directly from the blender jar into a muffin pan. Doesn’t get much easier than that! 

Pistachio Muffin Recipe Tips

• Measure the coconut oil when melted. Measure 1/2 cup of melted (not hardened) coconut oil.
• Scrape everything out of the blender. The finished batter is very thick and quite sticky, so take your time scraping it all out into the muffin tins. For the best, high-rise muffins we need to use every bit of the batter!
• Grease the muffin pan generously. I don’t recommend muffin liners for these muffins, because the batter sticks to the liners. Make sure to grease the cavities well. Of course, a good muffin pan also makes a world of difference. These pans are my absolute favorite, and I’ve never had a problem with muffins not releasing nicely.

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