Pistachios and cardamom were destined to be in blender muffins. And on top of the muffins. Can we just eat the muffin tops? Yes, we can. And we should.
Before I tell you about these muffins, I just have to say that I’m so grateful to everyone who took the time to encourage me after my last post about getting unstuck. Things are still challenging right now, but the feedback that I received was exactly what I need to keep going. So here we are, another day, another recipe to keep this wagon train a-movin’. I’m one lucky gal to say this is my job. Ok, back to the muffins, Beth.
If you want to see money evaporate into thin air, come to my house after I’ve just bought two pounds of pistachios. I swear I almost had to lock them up, because every time I turned around I saw Michael snacking on them. I mean, I love him and everything, but I had muffins to make and photograph, dang it! So he may have had to buy me a big bag of replacement pistachios at Costco, but it’s ok because I liked them better and they were prettier than the first ones I bought. Exhibit A, above, are the Wonderful Pistachios from Costco, and they are amazing. Sigh…but so expensive. WHY????? Anyway…
It’s been a while since I came up with another blender muffin recipe, and I’d had this flavor combo on my list for a long time, so here we are. And these are a little different than the previous blender muffin recipes (see the end of the post for the list), because they have a baked-on topping that is CRAZYPANTS DELICIOUS. How I ever managed to keep from eating it all before putting it on the muffins is a mystery known not even to me.
That, my friends, is crushed pistachios, maple syrup, and ground cardamom, all mixed together and ready to be portioned onto some muffin batter. Or shoveled into your mouth. I won’t tell anyone. Here’s a napkin.
If you do resist the topping temptation, you will be rewarded with a sweet, salty, crunchy, pistachio-y topping on tender, cardamom-scented muffins that are so good you won’t even care about the cost of pistachios. Ok, maybe you’ll care a little bit. But then you’ll take another bite and care less. So send someone you love to Costco or another purveyor of pistachios and make these muffins! And while you have your blender out, I hereby suggest you take advantage of the moment and have a muffin making marathon. Here are a few more to pick from!
Other Blender Muffin Recipes
Vegan Blender Muffins (the original that started it all)
Vegan Double Chocolate Hazelnut Blender Muffins
Vegan Pumpkin Blender Muffins (read the comments!)
Pistachio Cardamom Blender Muffins
Ingredients
FOR MUFFINS
- 3 cups rolled oats (use certified GF oats for gluten-free)
- 3/4 cup shelled pistachios, almonds, cashews (or sub other nut if desired)
- 1/2 cup unrefined sugar or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted nuts)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups water
FOR TOPPING
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
For Topping
- Finely chop pistachios and mix with maple syrup and cardamom in a small bowl.
For Muffins
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Prepare muffin liners with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and puree until mostly smooth and no large pieces of nuts remain.
- Fill muffin liners to the brim with batter, adding 1 teaspoon of topping to each (if using).
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Remove muffins to a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before devouring.
Nutrition
i need a new blender! Love the topping idea!
We refuse to even buy already shelled pistachios because they’ll be eaten in a SECOND! So stinking good. These muffins look amazing…can’t wait to try them!
And Glad to hear that your vision issues are hopefully almost over!!
These look amazing!!!!!!! can’t wait to make these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You!!!!!!!!
I love pistachios but can’t afford them. How about a peach or pineapple muffin. Canned are pretty cheap. Thank you for all your hard work. I know how you feel about your eyes, I have rosacea in mine.
Hi Julie! Both a peach and pineapple version sound amazing! You have my wheels spinning… 🙂 I’m so sorry you have rosacea in your eyes, I didn’t even realize that was possible!
Hi Beth,
Do you start with raw or roasted pistachios?
The phrase “Purveyor of Pistachios” for the win! Can’t wait to try these out!
Ha! Someone appreciates my alliteration! Thanks Julia! 🙂
I can’t wait to try these!
What is the unit of measurement for this: 1/2 unrefined sugar or maple syrup
Hi Carrie! Sorry about that, it’s 1/2 cup. I just updated the recipe. 🙂
With a late start for the kids due to snow yesterday I was thinking I should make a warm breakfast when this recipe popped into my inbox. I realized I had the ingredients on hand and made up a batch for breakfast, they were delicious and easy! I love the pistachio crunch topping. Next time I think I will pulse the nuts for the topping in the blender and transfer to a bowl before mixing the rest of the ingredients, I made a bit of a mess trying to chop them with a knife. I saved a couple for today and they were even more delicious next-day, almost a sweet-savory coffee cake flavor. I never would have imagined these flavors together but I’m sure glad you did, yum!
Oh I’m so glad you made them! <3 I should have said in the recipe that I pulse the nuts in a mini-chopper thing, it's super quick and less mess. The blender should work just fine too, although it might be tough with the small volume of nuts. Worth a try! Also, this is totally how I should have spent our late start morning! 🙂
Sounds amazing and I want to try it! Is it ok to half the recipe to try it out or do you recommend I make as is? Thanks so much!