Pistachio Cupcakes

Pistachios - I have loved these nuts since I was a small child. The cracking of the shell, the salty then sweet taste, who doesn't love a pistachio (besides those with a nut allergy).


I always liked the idea of pistachio pudding as a child but I could never get over having tiny pieces of the nut in the actual pudding (the one that came from a box). I would pick around the pieces and leave them in the bowl to be washed down the drain. I only recently tried pistachio ice cream and I had the same issue! I hated the soggy texture of the pistachios in the ice cream.


Regardless, I've been looking for a pistachio recipe and came across an awesome recipe on Bakerella for a box cake mix mixed with pudding, and I decided to use pistachio and make cupcakes! Who knew that was coming?


So, I have another issue other than my dislike for soggy nuts (haha, very funny, moving on). My cupcake pans are more of muffins pan so my cupcakes come out very large and squat. But! I came across larger cupcake wrappers that are geared towards absurdly large cupcakes which worked perfectly. Plus, the recipe make the cake rise higher than normal so the wrappers kept it from spilling over. 


Here's what I did:

Pistachio Cupcakes amended from Bakerella's Simple Sprite Cake 
1 white cake mix (I used funfetti, I wish I had used white)
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box instant pistachio pudding (3 oz. size)
8 oz. can of Seltzer (I ran out of clear soda's and didn't go the the store, I wish I had used sprite)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place wrappers in cupcake pans. (I made 12 giant cupcakes, I assume normal sized ones are around 24.)
• Mix ingredients on low until combined and then increase speed to medium and mix for about 2 minutes.
• Pour batter into wrappers (about 1/2 way) and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing and placing them on a cooling rack (the image below is showing them cooling in the pan).

Then have your boyfriend whip up some frosting because he think your homemade butter cream frosting is never soft enough for his taste. Or use the canned stuff, I love both options.


These turned out delicious, moist, and I didn't find any soggy nuts (last time, I promise).