Easy Pistachio Cupcakes frosted with creamy vanilla buttercream frosting! These cupcakes are made with real pistachios and contain no artificial pudding!
Try my fluffy and super easy Strawberry cupcakes next.
What are your favorite nuts to bake with during this time of the year? Walnuts? Peanuts? OMG Pecans already??
If you ask me, I love to bake with pistachios around the time it’s almost fall! May be coz I start missing all the green outside already!
Or may be I love eating pistachios in dessert form all year long. Now, you will too. Just wait till you have a bite.
These cupcakes taste better than they look. And I am not kidding! Flavored with real pistachios, oh so fluffy yet moist, supremely tender nutty cupcakes are the best dessert on earth.
Let see what makes them the best!
Pistachio Cupcakes Ingredients
- Unsalted Pistachios: Unsalted as we don’t want the cupcakes to be too salty. If you choose to add salted nuts, skip salt from the ingredients.
- Sour cream: Produces an extremely fluffy and moist cupcake
- Cake flour: For that softest cupcake texture.
- Almond extract: To enhance the pistachio flavor in the cupcakes
- Milk: To moisten the batter
- Few drops of green food coloring
- And the usual gang of butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, egg and leaveners.
How to make Pistachio cupcake recipe
- Step 1 Pulse pistachios into fine crumbs. Leaving a few big chunks. These chunks will soften as the cupcakes bake.
- Step 2 Cream butter and sugar together until creamy
- Step 3 Add egg, vanilla, almond extract and beat it all in. Beat in sour cream too
- Step 4 Pour in sifted dry ingredients alternating with milk
- Step 5 Fold in pistachio crumbs. Batter will be smooth and creamy
- Step 6 Pour batter in liners and bake till done
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Creamiest, softest and the most flavorful vanilla buttercream you will ever taste!
- Beat your butter: But first make sure it is at room temperature. Soft but not greasy!
- Add confectioners’ sugar, cream/milk and vanilla: Beat on low to combine all the ingredients. Then beat on high until creamy and fluffy
- Add a pinch of salt: And beat again for 30 seconds.
- Take a taste
Also, did I tell you our pistachios cupcakes are free from artificial puddings.
Scented with nutty flavors and creamiest vanilla buttercream this is truly the best pistachio cupcake recipe you will ever try!
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Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Pistachios shelled and unsalted
- 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp Cake Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/3 Cup Butter room temperature
- 2/3 Cup Granulated sugar
- 1 Egg Room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp Almond extract
- 1/3 cup Sour cream Room temperature
- 1/3 Cup Whole Milk Room temperature
- Few drops Green food coloring optional
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 Cup (235 gm) Butter room temp
- 4 Cups (480 gms) Confectioners' sugar
- 3 Tbsp (45 ml) Heavy cream
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Pulse your unsalted pistachios into fine crumbs using a blender, leaving a few small chunks. Look at the process click above in this post.
- Line a pan with 10 cupcake liners and set it aside. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Beat butter using a hand held or a stand mixer with paddle attachment for a minute. Add in sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy on high. About 2 more minutes.
- Add in egg, extracts and beat in to combine. Now mix in sour cream and beat it in too. Next fold in pistachio crumbs in the batter.
- Now sift dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) over wet and fold everything in pouring milk slowly. Batter will look creamy and thick.
- Divide batter in the prepared liners and bake for 20-22 minutes. Or till they pass the toothpick test. Allow them to cool before frosting
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- In a large bowl, using hand held or stand mixer beat room temperature butter for around 2 minutes.
- Now add in confectioners' sugar, cream and vanilla and beat on low for a few seconds. Then turn the mixer on med-high and continue to beat for another minutes. Add in a pinch of salt and beat for one more minute or till the frosting turns light and creamy.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired. Decorate with an edible flower (optional).
Notes
- You can make your own cake flour at home by measuring out a cup of all purpose flour. Removing 2 tablespoon of flour from it and replacing the flour with cornstarch. Sift it 3-4 times.
- If you wish to make mini cupcakes with this recipe. Fill your liners about 3/4th full and bake for 11-13 minutes.
- Use full fat milk for making the cupcake batter. It produces moist and rich cupcakes.
Nutrition
these are so pretty! I love the bright green color of the cupcakes
They look absolutely gorgeous and tastes amazing too. My 6 years old couldn’t get enough!
Pistachios don’t last in our house, but I think I can manage to squirrel a few away to make these gorgeous cupcakes. YUM!
These look so adorable, particularly with the edible flowers. I’m intrigued by the pistachio flavor – I do enjoy pistachios so I imagine I’d like these too.
These cupcakes almost look too good to eat! Pistachio is one of my favourite ingredients so I’d love one of these.
I’ve never had a pistachio cupcake but the flavors sounds amazing. I love pistachios and cupcakes so I’m sure I will love these too.
This looks and sound absolutely amazing! Thanks for such a tasty recipe.
Scratch baking is the only way to go! I love all the tips you added for making these little gems!
These look scrumptious. Pistachios are my favorite nut and I love cooking with them! Love the color of these cupcakes.
These just make me want to go on holiday and drink cocktails and eat cupcakes! We love baking cupcakes and everyone loves nuts, so will definitely be trying them!
Huh. I never really thought of pistachios as a fall baking idea. I usually use it for around spring when it is St Patrick’s Day.
But to be honest, I love pistachios so much I will bake with them any time of the year!!
Yum! Never really tried pistachio on cupcakes and this recipe of yours looks really delicious! I love the color and the creamy vanilla buttercream frosting.
I love Pistachios, but have not use it in my baking. I am intrigue about how the flavor will turn out. Will be trying this.
love the cupcake decoration. Definitely tempting. My little just screamed out of excitement when she saw those images. I have to make these for her over the weekend 🙂
I knew I loved pistachio ice cream but pistachio cupcakes are even better!
I love pistachio and pistachio flavor things, but I’ve never tried them in a cupcake. They are so cute and I can’t wait to make a batch!
These cupcakes are beautiful. I love pistachios too!
I made these yesterday and served them with pistachio gelato and they were so delicious! When I saw this recipe, I already had all the ingredients on hand (including the gelato!), so I “impulse” baked them. 🙂 So happy I did. Thanks for a great recipe!
Such gorgeous little cupcakes! The fact that they are made with real pistachios is such a plus! I think they are so overlooked sometimes, as being expensive and all, but they bring so much to a recipe.
OMG! These pistachio cupcakes look so scrumptious! We are having guests coming over next week, I want to make these treats for them! Saving!
Mmm I love pistachios too! And I love what a beautiful cupcake you’ve turned them into, they’re just delicious!
I LOVE pistachios and these cupcakes look incredible! I’m loving the addition of the edible flower as they totally draw you into the cupcake for a bite… or 5 🙂
I do forget about any stress I had throughout the day when I look at these cute little cupcakes that must be pure joy to have in the kitchen. Love the colors – it makes them super special. Yum!
Pistachio cupcakes are my favorite! I’ve seen a few different ways to make them but this one is by far the best. The looks are incredible! Can’t wait to give this recipe a test ASAP! 🙂
I have NEVER had pistachio cupcakes – and these sound amazing. I want to try making this recipe now. And that vanilla buttercream, soooo yummy sounding!
As for my favorite nut, walnuts in baked goods. Thats a classic. 😀
I love pistachios and the cupcakes have turned put so beautiful. They look very pretty and love the beautiful green colour