A delicious pistachio butter bread made from scratch and with the crunch of real pistachios. A moist bread recipe that’s all natural and features pistachio flavor in every bite. The color is a non-artificial natural green from pistachio butter and actual pistachios.
Recipe Highlights
- How it taste: The bread is buttery and moist. When fresh, the crusty topping has a very satisfying crunch from being freshly baked, even when cooled. Pistachio butter flavors the bread along with sugar and bits of chopped, toasted pistachios.
- Skill level: Pistachio bread will be pretty easy for the beginner baker. The batter is overly thick, so it’s easy to work with. Make sure you watch the bread close to the end and allow it to cool properly before slicing.
- Storing: The bread will keep at room temp for a few days or it can be placed in the fridge or even frozen for later.
Ingredient tips
- Pistachios: Buy toasted pistachios that have the shells removed. It’ll make the bake much easier. I personally enjoy salted ones for the extra kick of flavor but any will work. Chop them coarsely so that there are chunks of the nut in the loaf to really get a full bite when you sink your teeth into a slice.
- Flour: Yes, the title says pistachio bread but do not use bread flour. This is more of a dessert style bread versus a bred you’ll serve with dinner. You’ll want all-purpose flour that has less gluten in order to get a soft crumb. Bread flour has more gluten which results in the toughness that we bread loafs have. Delicious of course, but that texture is not what we are going for here.
- Oil: For the recipe, I used vegetable oil. But, if you have olive oil on hand I highly recommend that. You’ll be able to taste a difference since vegetable oil is technically flavorless. The olive oil provides a moist texture as well, boost the color green in the pistachio butter bread and depending on what brand of olive oil you use, it can provide more flavor.
How to make pistachio butter bread
- Grab your favorite pistachio butter and mix it in with the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, you’ll need your dry ingredients.
- Once combined, fold in the chopped pistachios.
- Line the loaf pan for easy release, pour in the batter then bake the bread.
- Allow the bread to cool completely before serving but you can still slice the bread when it’s slightly warm.
Chef’s tip’s
- Do you want to glaze it? The bread is fine by itself and it does have a sweetness. However, for a quick glaze I’d recommend something flavored with vanilla or almond. I’ll include a optional glaze below in the recipe but it will not be included in the nutrition facts.
- Handle the bread carefully when it’s done baking. Removing the bread too quickly from the loaf pan can mess up the crumb. Even though it’s cooked it can look like a line of raw dough at the bottom, or even the top sometimes. Test the bread with a toothpick or knife to make sure it comes out clean. Remove the pistachio butter bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then, come back and pull it out of the loaf pan to finish cooling.
- Be sure to line the loaf pan with parchment paper for easy lifting.
Quick variation
Yes, you can turn this pistachio butter bread into a Dubai-like bread. Simply add a melted chocolate glaze or ganache across by top. Chocolate chips on the inside can work as well. Tahini is also used and can be combined with the pistachio butter.
With your extra pistachio butter you’ll enjoy these rice krispie treats as well!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Where to buy pistachio butter?
Some stores carry it nowadays. Instacart will be able to tell you any local stores. I purchased mine from Amazon and had it delivered the same day if you choose the right brand. It’ll also give you delivery times with your Prime membership.
Can you freeze the bread?
Yes, and it’s also shelf stable for about 2 days. Any longer than that and it’ll get rather hard and dry. Freezing the bread or keeping it in the fridge is best. I also learned from a baker to wrap it in plastic after cutting keeps the air from drying the bread out.
Can this be made gluten-free or dairy-free?
I’ve never tested that and I would say this isn’t the recipe for you if you want gluten-free recipe. For dairy-free, using nut milks can work just fine.
Can you use instant pudding for this recipe?
There are a lot of recipes using pistachio instant pudding and I am sure they are delicious. However, this recipe was made to use whole ingredients and I can say that using an instant pudding mix will come out successful. I would definitely recommend another bloggers recipes that uses it first before swapping ingredients in this one.
Can I make the recipe without pistachio butter/
Yes, you can but the pistachio flavor will be greatly reduced. The nuts themselves will provide flavor but not as much alone. If you do not have pistachio butter, use 3/4 cup of oil instead of the 1/2 cup listed below.
Other quick bread recipes to try
- Lemon Blueberry
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese
- Banana Oat Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Brown Butter Banana Bread
- Apple Banana Bread
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Pistachio Butter Bread
Equipment
- 8×4 loaf pan
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup pistachio butter
- 1/4 cup milk
Dry ingredients
- 1.25 cup all-purpose flour (150g)
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix in
- 1/2 cup pistachio (roughly chopped)
Glaze (optional)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line the loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Combine all the wet ingredients. Then, in a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Mix the dry and ingredients together until just combined.
- Fold in the pistachios then pour the batter into the loaf pan.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes. Start checking for doneness at the 40 minute mark.
- When the loaf is cooked through, remove from oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then, remove the loaf from the pan and allow to finish cooling before slicing and serving. Note, if using the glaze, add the glaze after you remove the bread from the loaf pan while it's still hot.
Nutrition
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.