Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cream Cheese Muffins are perfectly domed, incredibly soft treats that combine two favorite flavors in one: chocolate and pistachios! They're a wonderful, new recipe from Sabine Venier's first cookbook, The Chocolate Addict's Baking Book that are perfect to enjoy at breakfast, brunch, or dessert!
the Chocolate Addict's Baking Book
This is my friend Sabine's first cookbook and she did a beautiful job of bringing all of these wonderful recipes together that celebrate chocolate! The Chocolate Addict's Baking Book is designed for beginners and advanced home bakers alike, and covers a broad spectrum of flavors to prove that chocolate can be combined with just about everything!
From the beautiful photos that accompany each recipe to the variety of flavor combinations, this cookbook is a masterpiece!
If you love chocolate as much as I do, I would definitely recommend getting this cookbook! It would make a great Christmas gift too for the chocolate lover in your life! You can also find Sabine and her many other fabulous recipes over on Instagram and on her blog, Also the Crumbs Please.
baking tools needed
For making Sabine's dark chocolate pistachio cream cheese muffins, I recommend using the following baking tools.
- Cupcake Tins. You'll need two of them to make this recipe which yields about 19-20 muffins.
- Cupcake Liners. I used these basic black cupcake liners from Wilton. They also make a pack of 150 cupcake liners that have black, unbleached, patterned, and white.
- Mixing Bowls. I used one for the streusel and one for the dry ingredients that get whisked together.
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer. Either one will come in quite handy when it comes time to mix the cream cheese, sugar, milk, eggs, and cooled melted butter.
- Cookie Scoop. Sabine recommends filling each liner up until almost full, so my 3 tablespoon size cookie scoop worked perfectly for this! Spoons or a smaller cookie scoop will work fine too.
- Whisks and Spatulas. The whisk comes in handy for mixing the dry ingredients together. The spatulas are perfect for scraping down the sides of the bowl and also folding in the pistachios. My all time favorite brand to use for both: GIR!
- Wire Cooling Rack. I like to transfer my muffins and cupcakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely after about 10-15 minutes.
how to make these dark chocolate pistachio muffins
Here's a general outline of how I made these chocolate pistachio muffins. It is slightly different from the full recipe in that I make the streusel first and fold in the pistachios. The full recipe can be found below or by purchasing Sabine's new cookbook, The Chocolate Addict's Baking Book!
Prep your work area. This includes prepping the cupcake tins with the liners and preheating the oven. You'll use 1 full cupcake tin and a little over half of the other. You can go ahead and melt the butter you'll need for the cupcake batter to give it a little time to cool.
Make the streusel. In the full recipe, this is actually the 4th step, but I prefer to make it first so it's ready to go and the muffin batter doesn't need to sit. Make sure to use cold, cubed butter, and your clean hands. It may sound kind of weird using your hands to mix this together, but it really is the easiest way to make this streusel! Fold in your chopped pistachios last.
Whisk the dry ingredients together. This includes the all-purpose flour, dutch-processed cocoa powder, and baking powder.
Mix the wet ingredients together. First mix beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Then add in your eggs, milk, and melted butter.
Fold in the pistachios. After you've added the whisked dry ingredients to the wet, fold in your pistachios. Make sure to not over mix this cupcake batter. Use a cookie scoop for this part—it makes things super easy!
Fill and bake. Fill each cupcake liner until almost full. The batter won't spread and run over the sides. It will actually bake into a really nice dome shape! Bake for 425ºF for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350ºF and bake for another 11-13 minutes. Make sure to let them cool completely.
can I freeze these dark chocolate pistachio muffins?
Yes! Sabine recommends keeping these stored in an airtight container either at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
quick tips for making the best dark chocolate pistachio cream cheese muffins
- Note the baking times—there are two! 425ºF for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350ºF and bake for another 11-13 minutes. You do not need to remove the muffins when you reduce the oven temperature, nor will you need to open the oven door.
- Use shelled pistachios. Save yourself the frustration of having to remove all those shells before chopping them up and adding them to your recipe!
- Craving more salt? Instead of using raw, plain pistachios, use the roasted and salted kind. So good and pairs nicely with the dark chocolate!
- Skip the food processor. I chopped up my pistachios in a ziploc bag and a wooden spoon instead of using a food processor or food chopper. A rolling pin or meat tenderizer mallet works wonders as well.
- Fold in your pistachios. This is for both the streusel and the cream cheese muffin batter.
- Use a cookie scoop. I used my 3 tablespoon-size cookie scoop which filled the cupcake liners perfectly.
- Consistency. The muffin batter will be on the thicker side, but easily scoopable to place into the liners.
check out these other delicious cupcake and muffin recipes
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Devil's Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
- Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffins - a Beyond the Butter favorite!
- Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes
- Mini French Breakfast Puffs
Dark Chocolate Pistachio Cream Cheese Muffins
Author:Ingredients
streusel
- ⅓ cup All-Purpose Flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Cold Butter, cut into small cubes
- ½ cup Raw, Shelled and Peeled Pistachios, chopped
dark chocolate pistachio cream cheese muffins
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup Unsweetened Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, spooned and leveled
- 4 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 cup Milk
- ½ cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup Raw, Shelled and Peeled Pistachios, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Line two 12-well muffin pans with about 20 paper liners and set aside.
- Make the muffin batter: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until cream and smooth, about 2 minutes. The, add in the eggs, milk and melted butter and mix until smooth and combined, about 1 minute. With the mixer on low speed, slowly mix in the flour mixture, about 1 minute. Do not overmix at any step. Then, fold in the pistachios just to incorporate and set aside.
- Make the streusel: In a small bowl, use your fingers to combine the flour, sugar, butter and pistachios until the mixture is crumbly. Do not overwork otherwise, it will become a paste rather than crumbs.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared wells until almost full and top with the streusel. You will end up with 19 or 20 muffins. Bake at 425ºF (220ºC) for 5 minutes. The, leaving the oven door closed, lower the heat to 350ºF (175ºC) and bake for another 11 to 13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan or transfer to a wire rack after 15 minutes, before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
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