Image Credit: Serious Eats.
For much of my childhood, I believed in a world where red pistachios grew plump and fell from tall red-trunked trees. You can understand my disappointment when one day after downing a bag of red pistachios with my family, I learned that, like my imagination, red pistachios were fabricated.
Those glorious little nuts that left my fingertips and lips a ruby red are, in fact, beige. How dreadfully boring. Apparently that’s what the marketers of red-dyed pistachios thought, too. Beyond their naturally earthy hue, pistachios from those days of yore were often harvested by hand and suffered from imperfections, and who in the hell wanted a beige nut with obvious imperfections? Selling dyed pistachios was like peddling sparkly costume jewelry: distraction central.
Image Credit: Roadside Wonders.
Two major shifts have happened since my red pistachio-eating days:
1. The natural food movement has become mainstream, which means it’s not only healthier to eat foods closer to their natural state; it’s also a way to increase your “cool” social capital.
2. American-grown pistachios are mostly machine-harvested, reducing the amount of time growers and processors come in contact with the nut, which increases harvest yields and eliminates potential manhandled imperfections from making it to your pistachio bag.
Below you’ll find a lightly sweetened muffin recipe packed with pistachio goodness. (Pistachios are a fine source for your daily protein, fiber, and vitamin needs.) Because these muffins are made with honey and olive oil, you can also feel a little less guilty about making your way through a few at a time.
Image by Author.
Honey Pistachio Muffins (adapted from The Sweet Life)
Make 12 muffins
Ingredients
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1/2 cup honey (use the good stuff, it’s worth it!)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pistachios, finely ground*
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup pistachios, finely chopped
*Note: If possible, use a food processor to grind the pistachios until they are the texture/size of coffee grounds.
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk oil and honey until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground pistachios.
3. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the oil/honey/egg mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk (so you should add some flour mixture, mix, half the buttermilk, mix, flour mixture, mix, the rest of the buttermilk, mix, the rest of the flour mixture). Stir until just combined; do not overmix!
4. Divide the batter equally among the muffin tin, filling each liner about 2/3 of the way. Sprinkle the finely chopped pistachios onto the tops of the muffin batter.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
I don’t think I’d ever seen a pistachio in its natural color until the Iranian hostage crisis which, among other things, embargoed the importation of Iranian pistachios. I used to love the way the red dye tinged your fingers – pistachios and beer! We haven’t made muffins in awhile. These are a good excuse. ken
Unfortunately I was too young to appreciate beer and red pistachios, but I’ll have to give it a try with the beige ones now that I live in the city of microbrews.
If you aren’t a big sweets person, I think you’ll like these muffins. Honestly I think most muffins are too sugary for me, but I didn’t go into a sugar coma after eating a few of these rascals. One note I didn’t include in the post is that I’ve been using high altitude flour for the past few baking endeavors, and I’ve noticed a marked difference in the fluffiness of my baked goods. Maybe this whole high altitude baking thing is for real.
Have a great weekend, Ken!
I’ve never seen a red pistachio ! There’s a pistachio farm near where I live. Your recipe looks easy enough to follow….. will copy.
Definitely give this recipe a try. It was easy to make and yielded great results. Good luck!
Bizzarre. I have managed to get through over 50 years hanging around various parts of the globe and never seen a red coloured pistachio, or hear of them before reading this.
I’ll stick with the boring beige.
Best,
Conor
Boring beige is probably better for your health anyway.
This is the type of muffin I’m after – no butter! And I just love pistachios, preferably greenish in colour.
While I still bake sweet treats for friends and co-workers, this year I’ve had to give up most sweets for my health. I feel better physically, too. But I do miss being able to eat a brownie every now and then.
These muffins are great because they border “savory”.
Love pistachios in green!! Love this recipe