These pistachio muffins are a classic bakery style muffin recipe with an oat streusel topping and pistachios baked right in the batter.
These pistachio muffins are perfectly soft, not overly sweet, and bake up with super high domed tops. The addition of cardamom adds warmth, while the oat streusel topping gives these unique muffins a sweet & crunchy top. Make them extra special with a dusting of powdered sugar, and serve them for brunch!
For more muffin recipes, try Small Batch Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins, Double Chocolate Tahini Muffins, and Bakery Style Blackberry Oatmeal Muffins.
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Ingredient Notes
- All-Purpose Flour: You'll need about 2 ½ cups of high quality unbleached flour.
- Leaveners: Add both baking powder and baking soda to give these muffins the perfect rise and texture.
- Cardamom: Optional, but pairs really well with pistachios!
- Dairy: You'll need unsalted butter, buttermilk (or whole milk), and whole milk plain greek yogurt for these muffins.
- Sugars: Add both granulated sugar and brown sugar to the muffin batter, and brown sugar to the oat streusel.
- Eggs: You'll need two eggs at room temperature.
- Pistachios: Add finely ground pistachios to the muffin batter and roughly chopped pistachios to the streusel.
- Oats: Use quick cooking oats for the streusel.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the oat streusel topping and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Step 2: Make the muffin batter by creaming together the butter and sugars, then adding in the eggs and vanilla, and alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients. Lastly, fold in the pistachios.
Step 3: Fill the muffin cups (spaced apart for even heat distribution) all the way to the top, and add the oat streusel.
Step 4: Bake the muffins at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes and then at 350 degrees F for about 14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- Use a food processor to finely grind the pistachios, but be careful not to over-grind them or they will start releasing oils and turn into paste.
- Bake the muffins in every other muffin cup for more even heat distribution - this encourages the muffins to rise even more!
- Store these muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQs
No one likes a flat muffin top. To get that high dome muffin top, bake the muffins at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, then lower heat to 350 degrees F for an additional 20 minutes. That 5 minutes blast of high heat will force the muffins to bake upward more rapidly, creating a domed top. Then, the temperature is lowered for the remaining 20 minutes to bake the muffins all the way through. Additionally, baking them in every other muffin cavity allows for more even heat distribution, which results in more rise!
No one likes a streusel topping that immediately melts into the baked good when it's put in the oven. My secret is to take out the flour and add in quick cooking oats. The oats ensure that the streusel doesn't melt, but instead bakes up into a sweet & crunchy oat topping that resembles an insanely good brown sugar oatmeal cookie.
Store the muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
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📖 Recipe
Pistachio Muffins with Oat Streusel
Ingredients
For the oat streusel topping:
- 45 g (½ cup) quick cooking oats
- 53 g (â…“ cup) brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- 42 g (3 tablespoon) unsalted butter, cold; cubed
- 80 g (â…” cup) pistachios, roughly chopped
For the pistachio muffins:
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 113 g (8 tablespoon) unsalted butter , room temp
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 106 g (½ cup) brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 170 g (¾ cup) buttermilk or whole milk, room temp
- 56 g (¼ cup) whole milk plain greek yogurt, room temp
- 120 g (1 cup) pistachios, finely ground
Instructions
For the oat streusel topping:
- In a small bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, and cardamom.
- Add in the cubed cold butter and squish the pieces together with your fingers until it is fully incorporated.
- Mix in the roughly chopped pistachios.
- Place in the fridge until ready to use.
For the pistachio muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line two muffin pans with 6 parchment liners each spaced apart.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Scrape the bowl down, then add the eggs and vanilla and mix until fully combined.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and yogurt.
- While the mixer is on low speed, alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
- Lastly, fold in the finely ground pistachios until evenly incorporated.
- Fill the muffin cups all the way up to the top.
- Top each muffin with a generous amount of streusel.
- Bake the muffins for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375 degrees F and bake for another 13-15 minutes. Do not open the door when you turn down the temperature.
- Allow muffins to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Top with powdered sugar if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- Use a food processor to finely grind the pistachios, but be careful not to over-grind them or they will start releasing oils and turn into paste.
- Bake the muffins in every other muffin cup for more even heat distribution - this encourages the muffins to rise even more!
- Store these muffins in an air-tight container at room temperature for about 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
NFQ says
These baked up beautifully and came out exactly like the pictures! The cardamom and pistachio flavor really came through and the streusel on top gave it a great heartiness. Definitely will be making again.