Mini Pistachio Cupcakes

by Erin

On Sunday I told you about how I had the pleasure of meeting and baking with Heather Saffer of Dollop the day before. She was incredibly nice and very easy to get along with. It was cool to talk about her experiences in the food world – being on Cupcake Wars, owning a cupcake shop, and having a cookbook. It’s interesting how different it is from just having a food blog, living in my own little world.

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Funny thing was when she said that despite all of her experience, she thinks that I am more of a baker than she is! I don’t know about that but I do tend to be a bit of a control freak when it comes to baking and cooking, so I may have taken over when we were baking together without meaning to. Oops! Thankfully I don’t think it phased her as she gave me one of her Dollop “fr<3sting” shirts when she departed – yay!!! So thoughtful! I wish I had thought of it and I would’ve given her a Spiffy Cookie necklace. Just dropping the ball left and right haha.

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Today I am sharing one of the recipes we made together – mini pistachio cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache. After much deliberation on what we should make, the pistachio dark chocolate toffee I found at Trader Joe’s inspired me and made the decision easy. We also made flourless brownies with pistachios, because why not?

Mini Pistachio Cupcakes 1

One year ago: Chocolate Cake Ball Stuffed Oreo Pudding Cookies

MINI PISTACHIO CUPCAKES

Makes 2 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES

5 Tbsp shelled salted pistachios, divided

3-1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

1 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

GANACHE

2 oz. dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

Additional pistachios, for garnish

Directions:

  1. To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line mini cupcake pans with paper liners.  Set aside.
  2. Place 3 tablespoons of the pistachios in the bowl of a food processor.  Process until finely ground.  In a medium bowl combine the butter, cream cheese and ground pistachios.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Gradually mix in the sugar on medium-low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low, add the flour and salt, and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Coarsely chop the remaining pistachios and evenly fold into the batter with a spatula.
  3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared liners, filling each about three quarters full.  Bake, rotating halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Let cool in the pan a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. To make the ganache, place the chocolate and heavy cream in a small heatproof bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  Whisk in small circular motions until the chocolate is completely melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy.
  5. Dip the top of each cooled cupcake into the ganache to create a thin, even layer.  Sprinkle with additional chopped pistachios, if desired.

Source: Downsized from Everyday Annie.

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7 comments

Dark Chocolate Pistachio Saltine Cracker Toffee October 12, 2021 - 10:27 am

[…] I have been a bit obsessed with the combination. First I annihilated that toffee, then I baked mini pistachio cupcakes with a dark chocolate ganache, and now made my own version of that toffee using the saltine cracker toffee recipe as the […]

Reply
Emily @ Life on Food January 5, 2014 - 1:07 pm

Oh fun must that have been. Those cupcakes sound fantastic.

Reply
Vicki @ WITK January 2, 2014 - 7:27 pm

This sounds like such a fun afternoon! Those cupcakes turned out so cute! Love the chocolate glaze.

Reply
Zainab @ Blahnik Baker January 2, 2014 - 3:42 pm

Oh these are so cute!! How cool that you two hung out and baked. So jealous!!!

Reply
steph@stephsbitebybite January 2, 2014 - 10:37 am

I need some of these little cupcakes in my life right now. I love pistachios so much but I rarely bake with them. Need to change that!

Reply
spiffycookie January 2, 2014 - 10:44 am

I rarely bake with pistachios either, so expensive but definitely worth it.

Reply
Katrina @ WVS January 2, 2014 - 7:30 am

These cupcakes seriously look perfect. Love the pistachio garnish!

Reply

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