These bakery-style chocolate chip pistachio muffins have a crisp, almost chewy exterior, and a moist crumb with the beautiful flavors of pistachio and chocolate in every bite. These are the perfect dessert-for-breakfast treat when you’re feeling indulgent or want something extra special for breakfast.
I got used to making my own nut butters when I lived in France. At the time, I’d occasionally crave peanut butter, but even if I could justify spending more than five euro (trust me, back in 2008, it was a lot, or it felt like a lot, anyway) for a small tin of peanut butter imported from the UK on a student’s budget, it wasn’t the same as my favorite brand of American peanut butter. So, I started making my own with little packages of salted peanuts from Lidl (a German grocery store similar to Aldi) that cost less than a euro.
It’s actually not that hard to do, and we’re tapping back into the skills of my frugal-living days to make our own pistachio butter for this amazing muffin recipe. You can, of course, buy pistachio butter on Amazon if you don’t feel like making your own.
Why You’ll Love This Pistachio Muffin Recipe
- This is a pistachio muffin recipe from scratch, made with simple ingredients and real pistachios. Instant pistachio pudding mix often gets used to mimic pistachio flavor in baked goods. Real pistachio is subtle, so it makes sense that many recipes try to ‘boost’ the flavor artificially, but I love the sweet earthy nut flavor and the sharp contrast of chocolate. This is a great recipe if you’re as much of a pistachio lover as I am.
- It’s not too sweet, but perfectly sweet at the same time. Another reason to make this with real pistachios vs. instant pudding.
- And mini chocolate chips guarantee chocolate in every bite. Seriously, though, if I had baked this in a different pan, we’d be calling this chocolate chip pistachio cake.
- You can eat this bakery style muffin for breakfast, brunch or for a quick, sweet snack. I’ll stop short of recommending you eat these for dessert, although if it was just me, my pjs and a series on Netflix, I might be tempted to serve this next to a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Just sayin’.
- And finally, it’s delicious and comforting in every bite. But also, pistachios are good for you. The internet says so.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the pistachio butter
- Pistachios. In this recipe, I made the decision to use salted, shelled pistachios. This was simply because it was the only kind of shelled pistachio I could find at the store and I knew I definitely didn’t want to shell pistachios by hand just to toss into a food processor. I actually think the added salt in this recipe enhances the flavor of the chocolate. I’m not mad at it.
- Oil. A neutral oil like vegetable oil or canola oil really speeds up the time it takes to blend the pistachios into a smooth paste. That being said, you can leave oil out and let the natural oils in the pistachios release as you blend it. Just be prepared to give your machine a few breaks so it doesn’t overheat.
- Honey. Honey helps balance the saltiness of the pistachios.
- Vanilla extract. I suspect you could leave this out, too, but I think this is another flavor booster you shouldn’t skip!
For the pistachio chocolate chip muffins
The rest of the ingredients in this recipe are pretty typical in a muffin recipe:
- Vegetable oil
- Pistachio butter
- Light brown sugar, lightly packed
- Large eggs
- Whole milk
- Pure vanilla extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- All purpose flour
- Mini chocolate chips
Equipment You’ll Need
FOR THE PISTACHIO BUTTER
- A food processor (this is the one I use) or a blender. Making nut butter is a labor of patience even with a high quality food processor. It’s definitely easier if you’ve got a sturdy food processor or blender.
FOR THE MUFFINS
- A muffin tin. I prefer using metal muffin tins to make muffins over silicone ones because metal conducts heat better, ensuring more even cooking.
- Paper liners (muffin liners) for baking. This is optional, but it definitely makes removing the muffins a bit easier.
Tips for the Most Delicious Pistachio Muffins
Give your food processor a break. Even then, you may need to give your machinery a couple of 5 minute breaks so you don’t burn out the motor. (I use oil in my recipe because the liquid makes this process so much quicker.)
Or
Use oil. If you’re like me and you’ve got a food processor but no patience, you can simply add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil. It’ll loosen everything up and you’ll end up with a nice smooth paste much faster. FYI, my recipe for pistachio butter includes oil. You can omit it, though. It’ll just take longer.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Pistachio Muffins
- First, make the pistachio butter (if you aren’t using premade). To do that add shelled, salted pistachios, oil, honey and vanilla extract to a food processor and run the machine until you have a smooth paste, taking pauses as needed so the machine doesn’t overheat. Note: I didn’t need to stop my machine once I added oil to the recipe. If you omit the oil, it will take way longer to grind it into a smooth paste.
- Then, make the muffins. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Use canola spray to spray the top of the muffin tin so that the muffin tops don’t stick.
- In a large bowl, whisk the oil, pistachio butter, brown sugar, and eggs together until smooth.
- Add the milk and the vanilla extract to the bowl, and whisk together.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, and then add this mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until there are no more pockets of dry ingredients.
- Finally, fold the chocolate chips into the muffin batter.
- Using a large cookie scoop, equally divide batter between the 12 muffin cups. Fill them to the top for nicely domed muffins. Optionally, you can sprinkle with a few extra chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until puffed up and starting to turn golden brown on top and until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean (it will of course be lined with chocolate, but shouldn’t have runny or wet batter stick to it). Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store for 3-5 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Pistachio Muffins
Equipment
- Food Processor (If you want to make your pistachio butter from scratch)
Ingredients
For the Pistachio Butter
- 1 ¼ cups shelled salted pistachios
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the muffins
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup pistachio butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour scooped and leveled
- 1 ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
Pistachio Butter
- Add shelled, salted pistachios, oil, honey and vanilla extract to a food processor and run the machine until you have a smooth paste, taking pauses as needed so the machine doesn’t overheat.
Chocolate Chip Pistachio Muffins
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Use canola spray to spray the top of the muffin tin so that the muffin tops don’t stick.
- In a large bowl, whisk the oil, pistachio butter, brown sugar, and eggs together until smooth.
- Add the milk and the vanilla extract to the bowl, and whisk together.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, and then add this mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until there are no more pockets of dry ingredients.
- Finally, fold the chocolate chips into the muffin batter.
- Using a large cookie scoop, equally divide batter between the 12 muffin cups. Fill them to the top for nicely domed muffins. Optionally, you can sprinkle with a few extra chocolate chips.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until puffed up and starting to turn golden brown on top and until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean (it will of course be lined with chocolate, but shouldn’t have runny or wet batter stick to it). Remove to a wire rack to cool. Store for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
