Pistachio Blondies
Thick and gooey purely pistachio blondies made with homemade pistachio paste.
If you wanted a brownie but the flavor to be pure pistachio you would make: pistachio blondies. The texture is like a gooey blondie or brownie but the flavor is strongly nutty in only that pistachio way.
Recipe Origins
This is more or less a standard blondie recipe with pistachio paste added to it. What’s different is the amount of butter; you’ll see it a lot less than a typical blondie recipe would call for and that is because we are introducing the paste which is also a fat, into the batter.
I tested this with storebought pistachio paste and to my utter surprise the blondies were not as fudgy and they lacked that signature shiny topping. I think this is because a homemade paste retains some of its natural oils in the bits of nuts that aren’t fully blended. I was, however, quite relieved to find this to be the case as I didn’t want to ask you to buy an expensive jar of pure pistachio paste. For our purpose here, a bag of nuts for half the cost will do the job wonderfully!
Recipe Ingredients
Pistachios: I buy mine unshelled and raw and toast them myself, this makes for a fresher nut that’s easier to grind into a paste. If you can’t find raw, you may use toasted but you’ll want to toast them for about 5 minutes so they are fresh and ready to grind.
Butter: unsalted. Cold is fine.
Sugar: brown sugar, light or dark (I like dark more in blondies).
Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount.
Vanilla: pure vanilla extract.
Eggs: medium sized. Sometimes bigger eggs will make for a cakey blondie.
Flour: all purpose. If you aim to make these gluten free use a one to one flour substitute.
Chocolate: use something you like! I think pistachios are great with all chocolates: dark, milk, or white. You can use good quality chips or chop up a chocolate bar (not a baking bar).
How to make pistachio blondies
First make the pistachio paste (or pistachio butter)
Spread the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet, big enough so that the nuts are all on the pan (not stacked). Toast them in a preheated oven at 350 F until they are very hot and fragrant. For raw pistachios this will be around 9 minutes, for toasted nuts it’ll be around 6.
As soon as you take them out of the oven, set them in a food processor (or whatever you typically use to blend/puree that can handle nuts).
Process or blend on high until the nuts become a loose paste. It will still be bitty but should be loose enough to fall off a spoon. You may need to stop the food processor a few times to scrape it down (the nuts sometimes gather at the top).
You can do this ahead of time, up to a week, or right before baking. It’s best for the paste to be cool before adding to the blondie batter though.
Make the blondie batter
Set the butter in a bowl you can place in the microwave. Warm it for about 60 seconds until the butter is partially melted.
Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Return the bowl to the microwave for another minute. This melts some of the sugar.
Now watch the mixture transform: there will be a layer of melted butter on top of the mix but ask you whisk, it will turn into a thick, glossy mix. This step is important for our shiny, crinkle top later.
Add the eggs and whisk one by one. Now add the cooled pistachio paste and whisk until combined.
Stir in the flour and check the batter with your finger: if it’s still hot or warm it will melt your chocolate. Wait until it’s cool to touch then stir in the chocolate bits/chips.
Bake the blondies in a parchment lined metal pan, until the middle puffs up and cracks. The edges will be golden. Depending on whether your pan is 8 or 9 inches or how hot your oven truly is (or isn’t) bake time will take about 30 minutes. Always go by visual cues!
Recipe for Pistachio Blondies
Pistachio Blondies
Ingredients
- 120g raw unshelled pistachios to make the paste
- 113g or ½ cup butter unsalted
- 300g or 1 ½ cups brown sugar light or dark
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt add another ¼ teaspoon if you like the salt prominent
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 110g g pistachio paste from above
- 2 large eggs
- 160g or 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips semi-sweet or dark
Method
To make the pistachio paste
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the nuts on a small baking pan. Toast for about 7-9 minutes, until fragrant. Without letting them cool, transfer immediately to a food processor (or strong blender) and grind the nuts on high. First the nuts will turn into bits, then a powder. Keep processing until the powder turns into a runny paste, this can take up to 10 minutes depending on the strength of the food processor. Scrape the paste out and set aside to cool. This can be done ahead of time, store the pistachio paste in an airtight container in the fridge (it’ll keep for a week or two).
To make the blondies
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking pan (metal) with parchment paper. I like to do two overlaying strips so they cover the whole pan.
- Set the butter in a heatsafe bowl and partially melt it (microwave for about 60 seconds). Add the brown sugar and whisk. Heat the mixture again, for about 60 seconds, then whisk until you have a thick, glossy mix.
- Whisk in the salt and vanilla. Pour in the pistachio paste and whisk well.
- Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each one. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the flour. If the mix is hot, wait to add the chocolate chips until it has cooled. Fold in the chocolate.
- Bake the blondies until golden on the edges and the middle has puffed up and cracked a bit, about 30 minutes (look for visual cues for doneness, ovens vary as do pan material/size). Let cool then slice and serve.
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