Pistachio Muffins

Name: Pistachio Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour; 1 3.4-ounce box instant pistachio pudding mix ((dry - not prepared)); 2 teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ¾ cup buttermilk ((see note)); ¾ cup granulated sugar; ¼ cup neutral-tasting oil ((such as canola, vegetable, etc.)); ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted); 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; ½ teaspoon almond extract; ½ cup chopped unsalted raw pistachios; Sprinkle of sugar (for topping, optional)

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These bakery-style pistachio muffins stay tender and moist for DAYS thanks to an easy special ingredient: instant pudding mix. With an enhanced flavor, foolproof method, and fun green coloring, these easy muffins are topped with real pistachios for extra crunch.

Muffins on a cooling rack with the center one unpeeled from the paper.

I'll save you a long preamble and just get right to it. I excitedly bought a four-count of pistachio muffins from an unnamed store's bakery section, got them home, took a bite, and was disappointed.

Sure they were fiiiine, but they were kind of dry and didn't have much flavor. Basically they were big, green, plain muffins. Not a repeatable purchase.

These pistachio muffins are not like those pistachio muffins. Here's why I like these better, and I bet you will, too.

Like chocolate pudding muffins, these pistachio muffins use instant pudding mix to ensure they stay soft and tender until the last one is eaten.
Chopped pistachios top the muffins and toast during the bake time for great flavor.
And speaking of flavor, a perhaps unexpected baking extract enhances the pistachio flavor beautifully.
Employing a popular "bakery-style" baking tip produces reliably tall, domed muffins.

Note: The photos in this post were updated in 2024 with slight tweaks to the recipe. I reduced the buttermilk by one-quarter for a thicker batter texture (less leaning cupcake-like and more true muffin) and now sprinkle the pistachios on top of the muffins versus folding them into the batter. This way they get nice and roast-y as they bake.

Recipe Ingredients

Flour: If not weighing, measure using the "spoon and level" method. Stir up the flour so it's fluffed up and not packed down, then spoon it into your measuring cup, just letting it fall in there. Don't press down. Once it's overflowing in the cup, use a straight edge to even out the top and let the excess fall back into its container. This prevents excess flour from being added to the recipe, which can result in drier baked goods.
Pistachio Pudding Mix: This is a multi-purpose ingredient! It adds pistachio flavor, extra moistness, and the green coloring. Use "instant" (not cook and serve) and pour it in dry to the recipe.
Oil & Butter: A neutral-tasting cooking oil (like canola or vegetable) combines with melted butter for the fat here.
Buttermilk: For a long time I've been on the homemade substitute train (adding vinegar to regular milk), but I'm now a store-bought, real deal buttermilk convert. It's just that much thicker!
Almond Extract: Unexpected, right? This is a secret ingredient in many commercially-produced pistachio products to result in that pistachio flavor we've come to know and love.
Pistachios: For a crunchy muffin topping. I prefer unsalted, but you can use salted if you like a sweet and salty combination. Or try out a batch of crumble topping if you like!

Pistachio muffins cooling on a wire rack.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Dry Ingredients - Whisk together the flour, dry instant pistachio pudding mix, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
Wet Ingredients - In a separate bowl, beat the buttermilk, sugar, oil, melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
Combine - Add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir by hand until just combined (no dry streaks remain). Use broad, sweeping strokes along the bottom of the bowl to more efficiently work everything in without overmixing.
Bake - Evenly divide the batter between muffin cups and scatter pistachios and (optionally) a sprinkle of sugar over each one before baking.

The dry ingredients whisked together in a bowl.

Achieving Taller, Bakery-Style Muffins

I've long seen tips on baking taller muffins at home, but never felt the need to fuss around with them. They usually just impact appearance: producing muffins that are taller and more dome-shaped rather than muffins that have a spillover muffin top. Both delicious.

Over the years I've experimented with several tips and found one in particular that is quite effective so I use it here. That's starting the bake time at a brief high temperature (425°F), then lowering it to 350°F to finish them out.

This short, five-minute burst at a high temperature supercharges the rise and results in muffins that bake up, not out. The muffins are nice to look at, and as a bonus, it makes cleaning the muffin tin that much easier.

Baked pistachio muffins in the muffin tin.

Using Almond Extract in Pistachio Muffins

Have you ever thought that pistachio-flavored foods like pudding and ice cream don't really taste all that similar to raw pistachio nuts?

That's because in many cases, commercially-produced pistachio confections are actually flavored with almond products and dyed green (source). I found almond flavoring listed as an ingredient in the instant pistachio pudding mix, as well as in several brands of pistachio ice cream.

So, to enhance what our taste buds have come to know and love as that "pistachio" dessert flavor, almond extract is added to pistachio muffins to bump up the flavor.

Pistachio muffins on a wire cooling rack.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

Double check pudding packaging. You want to make sure to use instant pudding in the 3.4-ounce size (not cook-and-serve or the smaller 1 ounce box).
Use raw pistachios for topping. They do all the toasting you need as the muffins bake.
Be precise with oven timing. The one caveat to the high/low temperature method is the risk of forgetting to lower the temperature and scorching your muffins. To prevent this I don't set the timer for the entire cook time, rather I just set it to the five minutes they bake at the higher temperature, then setting another timer after. That way there's no forgetting to lower the heat.

Pistachio muffins on a cooling rack with a bite taken out of the center muffin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need to spray the paper muffin cups to prevent sticking?

It's not necessary for this pistachio muffin recipe. Spraying paper liners with a quick shot of cooking spray is something I do when making lower fat muffins to prevent half of the muffin from sticking to the liners when peeling them back, but this is a "traditional" type of muffin recipe with adequate fat content to make it a non-issue. You still can if it's your preference, though!

How do you store pistachio muffins?

Let pistachio muffins cool completely before placing them in an air-tight container or zip-top bag with all of the excess air pressed out. If you store them warm, the heat can cause condensation to become trapped in the container, leading to quicker spoilage. At room temperature they should stay for 2-3 days, but you can also freeze them in this manner for several months.

Can I make a homemade buttermilk substitute?

Yes. To do so add 2 ¼ teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup and pour in the milk of your choice to the ¾ cup (six ounce) measurement. Let sit for 5-10 minutes before adding to the recipe.

While it doesn't get as thick as traditional buttermilk, I've used this method just fine for years before switching over to buying store-bought buttermilk.

If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!

If you're coming back to this post from a bookmark or pin (thank you!) you may recognize one of the pre-update images below. The original recipe initially called for 1 cup of buttermilk, using all oil, folding the pistachios into the batter, and baking the muffins at 350°F for the entire 18-20 minute bake time.

An overhead shot of a pistachio muffin with a bite taken out of it.

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