Pistachio bread is sweet, soft and moist pistachio quick bread made with pistachio pudding mix. Top this easy to make pistachio loaf with a nutty almond and vanilla glaze and real pistachios for a delightfully festive, sweet and salty treat.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
I love a simple and delicious quick bread that can be enjoyed as easily for breakfast as it can for dessert. My Carrot Loaf Cake, Apple Fritter Bread, Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting and Cranberry Bread are just a few I adore making. This pistachio bread recipe is no exception. I know you’ll love it just as much as I do because:
- Layers of flavors and textures: From the moist and fluffy pistachio bread, to the sweet and nutty almond vanilla glaze topped with crunchy pistachios, this pistachio pudding bread will delight your senses.
- Easy to make, bake and eat: This pistachio quick bread recipe taste just like something grandma would make and is one bowl easy to make. Simply whisk the dry ingredients together, whisk the wet ingredients together, mix the wet and dry until incorporated, baked, glaze and enjoy.
Ingredients
This pistachio pudding bread requires only a handful of simple ingredients to make and you probably already have them in your pantry and fridge. Here’s what you’ll need.
Pistachio Bread
- Dry Ingredients: Gather all purpose flour, pistachio pudding mix, baking powder and salt.
- Wet Ingredients: Gather granulated sugar, lemon, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, sour cream and milk.
Almond Glaze for Pistachio Bread
Gather powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk and chopped pistachios.
Substitutions
This pistachio nut bread is as easy to make as it is delicious. Here are my recommended substitutions to make this quick bread if you need them.
- All purpose flour: To make this green bread gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill.
- Pistachio Pudding Mix: This pistachio loaf cake uses pistachio pudding mix to get the light green color and all the pistachio flavor.
- Granulated Sugar: This pudding bread with pistachios calls for granulated sugar, but maple sugar would also work well to make this recipe refined sugar free.
- Lemon Zest: Lemon and pistachio are a lovely flavor combination. I love the brightness from the lemon zest, but feel free to omit if needed.
- Canola Oil: Feel free to use any neutral oil in place of the canola oil or use ½ cup (113 g) of melted butter in place of the oil.
- Eggs: This recipe has not been tested without eggs.
- Vanilla and Almond Extracts: This adds a lovely background flavor that pairs really well with pistachios. In fact, the addition of the almond extract enhances the pistachio flavor of the bread.
- Sour Cream: Greek yogurt or buttermilk works well in place of sour cream.
- Milk: Use any milk you like.
Variations
- Cherry Pistachio Bread: Add ½ cup of drained and roughly chopped maraschino cherries into the batter right after the flour. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
- Pistachio Bread without Pudding Mix: Pour one cup of pistachios into a food processor. Finely ground the pistachios into a pistachio flour like consistency. Whisk the ground pistachios into the oil and sugar to form a paste. This will take the place of the pistachio pudding in the recipe.
- Pistachio Bread with Cake Mix: Replace all of the dry ingredients with a 15.25 oz. box yellow cake mix. Whisk the pistachio pudding mix with the cake mix to make the “dry ingredients” for the pistachio bread recipe. Prepare the rest of the recipe as written. Divide the batter into (2) 9 x 5 pans. Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs and the top bounces back when lightly pressed.
How To Make
Learn how to make pistachio bread in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (170 C). Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang on two sides. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, pistachio pudding mix, baking powder and salt together until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl whisk the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar resembles wet sand. Then whisk in the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, sour cream and milk together until well combined. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. If you would like to fold ½ cup of chopped pistachios into the bread, do so now.
- Evenly transfer the pistachio bread batter into the prepared pan. Using the back of a spoon or with the side of a flexible spatula, smooth out the top of the bread. Bake the pistachio loaf for 55 - 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with a few moist crumbs. If the top looks like it’s browning too much for your tastes, top the bread with a foil tent and continue to bake until the bread is fully baked through. Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. Use the parchment sling to lift the bread out of the pan. Cool completely before topping with the almond vanilla glaze.
4. To make the glaze, whisk powered sugar with the melted butter, almond extract and vanilla extract. Whisk in up to 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) of milk into the glaze, as needed to reach your desired consistency. Pour the glaze on top of the cooled pistachio loaf cake, top with chopped pistachios, set, slice and enjoy.
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Store: Place slices of the pistachio pudding bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Then transfer the bread to the fridge for an additional 2 - 3 days.
- Freeze: Individually wrap each slice in plastic wrap or wrap the entire pistachio loaf cake in plastic wrap. Place the bread in a freezer safe container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Do not top with glaze if you plan on freezing the loaf for a later time. Apply the glaze after the bread has thawed out.
- Thaw: Remove your desired number of pieces of the holiday loaf to sit out at room temperature or in the fridge until fully thawed. Heat in the microwave or toast in the toaster.
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature.This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in moist and perfectly mixed pistachio nut bread.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Always use the lowest speed on your electric mixer or mix in the dry ingredients by hand. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
- Use the baking times as a guide. Everyone’s oven varies, so the times listed in the recipe should be viewed as a guide. Always start checking at the minimum baking time and every 5 minutes after for wet batter or 3 minutes after for gummy or wet crumbs.
- Fully cool the bread before topping. This recipe for pistachio bread needs to cool before topping and slicing. For perfectly sliced pieces of bread, make sure to use a serrated knife or bread knife.
FAQs
Pistachios have an earthy, sweet and nutty taste. This pistachio quick bread has a sweet, nutty and almond-y taste. If you enjoy the taste of almond bread or cake, pistachio bread has a similar taste and texture.
This comes down to what your personal definition of healthy is. Pistachios themselves are lower in calories and higher in protein than most other nuts. This pistachio bread recipe has less than a cup of sugar and can be modified with your preferred oil, milk and yogurt.
The green color comes from the green food coloring used in the pistachio pudding mix. If you make this bread recipe with pistachio paste, the muffins will not be green unless you add a few drops of green food coloring.
Other Pistachio Recipes To Try
If you try this Pistachio Bread recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! -M
Pistachio Bread Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9X5 (23x13) loaf pan
- 1 parchment paper
- 1 whisk and flexible spatula or spoon
Ingredients
Pistachio Bread
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 1 3.4 oz. pistachio pudding mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, zested
- ½ cup (120 ml) oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml) milk, room temperature
Almond Glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) melted butter
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped pistachios for topping, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (170 C). Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a bit of overhang on two sides.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, pistachio pudding mix, baking powder and salt together until well combined. Set aside.2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour, 1 3.4 oz. pistachio pudding mix, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In another bowl whisk the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar resembles wet sand. Then whisk in the oil, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, sour cream and milk together until well combined.¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 1 lemon, zested, ½ cup (120 ml) oil, 2 large eggs, room temperature, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ½ cup (120 g) sour cream, room temperature, ½ cup (120 ml) milk, room temperature
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. If you would like to fold ½ cup of chopped pistachios into the bread, do so now. Evenly transfer the pistachio bread batter into the prepared pan. Using the back of a spoon or with the side of a flexible spatula, smooth out the top of the bread.
- Bake the pistachio loaf for 55 - 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out with a few moist crumbs. If the top looks like it’s browning too much for your tastes, top the bread with a foil tent and continue to bake until the bread is fully baked through.
- Cool the bread in the loaf pan for 15 minutes. Use the parchment sling to lift the bread out of the pan. Cool completely before topping with the almond vanilla glaze.
- To make the glaze, whisk powered sugar with the melted butter, almond extract and vanilla extract. Whisk in up to 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) of milk into the glaze, as needed to reach your desired consistency. Pour the glaze on top of the cooled pistachio loaf cake, top with chopped pistachios, set, slice and enjoy.1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) melted butter, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup chopped pistachios for topping, optional
Sebastian says
Can I use yogurt instead of sour cream ?
Megan says
Hi Sebastian, you can use a full fat or whole milk yogurt (I prefer Greek) in place of the sour cream.