Cardamom Pistachio Muffins

In my house, we adore feasting on store-bought pistachio muffins with an outrageously, and questionably, bright green hue.

But the long ingredient list of these 4-pack grocery store options comes at a cost to one’s pursuit of a fit and wholesome lifestyle.

This healthier recipe for cardamom pistachio muffins isn’t that type!

Normally, to obtain the Jolly-Green-Giant color, sweet flavor, and tender texture of store-bought pistachio muffins, there are a few cheats food production companies might adopt.

Food dyes are an obvious and very quick choice to achieve the bright colors. Drops of green food dye E142, or a mix of Blue 1 and Yellow 5 dyes, yield a perfectly vibrant shade of green.

And the other ingredients on the list?

Every bite you take could potentially include a cringe-worthy mix of assorted emulsifiers, stabilizers, a high sugar content, and vaguely explained artificial ingredients or flavorings.

I love sweet treats in the morning, I really do. But in order to keep my body in a state of health and happiness, they need to be an indulgence to dive into every now and then.

Most mornings, when my body is craving a sweet and fluffy baked good, I’m grabbing something homemade, like one of these healthier pistachio cardamom muffins.

The brilliant green color may be missing, but this recipe has a lot going for it.

Made with a self-explanatory list of ingredients that you don’t need a code (or a web browser pulled up on your phone) to decipher, this recipe is simple and straightforward.

With a mix of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, you’ll get the hearty taste and fiber-rich benefits of the whole wheat while still enjoying a softer and lighter texture that won’t be disappointingly dense.

The hint of bright lemon zest, tang from the buttermilk, and subtle floral spice from the cardamom are lovely companions to the chopped nutty pistachios dispersed throughout the batter.

There is still some sugar in this recipe, a must-have for a little sweetness. With its molasses content, a small amount of light brown sugar provides enough flavor and some interesting complexity as well.

And, at least when I’m in the kitchen baking my favorite batch of muffins for the morning, a crunchy topping is another must-have feature!

Sprinkled with just a little sanding sugar and some extra chopped pistachios, those crunchy bites on top are irresistible!

Perhaps irresistible enough to make you, at least momentarily, forget about any and all grocery store baked goods.

Print

Cooking by the Numbers…

Step 1 – Prep

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Set aside.

Microwave the butter to melt it in a heatproof bowl, and set it aside to cool slightly as you measure and prep the other ingredients.

Measure out the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cardamom, kosher salt, buttermilk, brown sugar (don’t forget to gently pack it!), vanilla, and sanding sugar, if using.

Roughly chop the pistachio nuts using a sharp knife and a sturdy cutting board.

Break the egg in a separate bowl and lightly beat it.

Zest the lemon, reserving the rest of the lemon for another recipe. Some lemony chicken thighs, perhaps?

Step 2 – Whisk Together Dry Ingredients

Place the flours, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Place 1/2 cup of chopped pistachios in the bowl, reserving the remaining 1/4 cup for the topping.

Whisk everything together until all of the ingredients are evenly dispersed, and the nuts are coated well in the flour mix.

The flour coating around the nut pieces will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter.

Step 3 – Whisk Together Wet Ingredients

Add the buttermilk, brown sugar, melted butter, egg, vanilla, and lemon zest in a separate large bowl bowl.

Whisk until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Is your brown sugar very lumpy? Before whisking into the other ingredients, sift the brown sugar to remove any large lumps.

Step 4 – Combine

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Fold everything together with a sturdy spatula just until the batter just comes together, and you can no longer see any streaks or lumps of flour.

Undermixing is better than overmixing for any muffin batter! Overmixing can result in a tough and chewy baked product.

Step 5 – Portion and Sprinkle with Topping

Once mixed, divide the batter evenly among the liners in the prepped pan, filling them close to the top edge of each liner. For cleaner portioning, use an ice cream or cookie scoop.

Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped pistachios. Repeat with the sanding sugar, if you decide to use it.

Sanding sugar has large crystals that won’t melt when baked – they’ll remain as a sweet and crunchy topping on baked goods.

Step 6 – Bake

Transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the muffins are puffy and lightly golden brown on top, and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

You know your oven best! For the most even baking, you can rotate the pan halfway through the baking process.

Step 7 – Cool and Serve

Immediately remove the pan from the oven. Leave the pan as is to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before transferring each muffin from the pan onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

To prevent steam from forming on the bottoms of the muffins, it is important to transfer them from the pan to a cooling rack instead of allowing them to cool fully in the pan. You need to provide as much airflow as possible from all directions as they cool.

Once cooled completely, serve, and enjoy!