Pistachio Bread

I made my Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread the other day and one of my nieces then requested that I make Pistachio Bread next. As I love it, I quickly agreed and doubled the recipe so everyone could get a small loaf.

I use instant pistachio pudding to give it some real pistachio flavor. I also chop some of the pistachios really small, some roughly and then leave some whole to give the bread lovely texture.

Big tip – as soon as the pudding mix hits the wet ingredients, it will begin to set so make sure that you’ve done all the pan prep, have the pistachios chopped, have the cinnamon sugar out (if using) and the oven preheated before that step.

So delicious and it smelled so good! I had to use threats to keep my Dad from eating it right out of the oven. He couldn’t even wait 15 minutes for it to cool.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 small box instant pistachio pudding mix
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup milk
¼ cup chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease 1 large or two small loaf pans with butter.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in instant pudding mix, breaking up any lumps.

In another bowl or in a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract, beating well to combine.

With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Add the milk, mixing to combine. Add remaining flour mixture and chopped pistachios, mixing just until combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan, smoothing out the top.*

Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for five minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely (or ten more minutes, if you’re my dad).

*Optional – sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar