This recipe of pistachio pound cake is moist, fluffy, tasty, and healthy. Yes, I mean the healthy part as the cake’s moistness comes from Greek yogurt and extra light olive oil. The combination of ground pistachio nuts and chopped pistachio nuts bring out the best nutty flavors.

This recipe of pistachio pound cake is perfect for last-minute dessert as it uses the most common ingredient in your pantry and refrigerator. Pistachio pound cake takes less than 10 minutes to prep all the ingredients and 55 minutes of baking time. I start the process just an hour before the kids pick up, and I will have warm pound cake to serve when they arrive. I have purposefully left out the glaze in this recipe to make this a quick version and fewer calories. But I am sure that the icing will add excellent taste to this.

Details of the Recipe Ingredients:

1. It is good to have all the ingredients at room temperature. But it is not necessary for this recipe which saves even more time to get this done quicker. I have made it several times using cold yogurt, cold eggs, and cold milk. But it still turns out great.

2. Sugar is added to the eggs to increase the volume and make it fluffier—no need to separate the eggs for this recipe.

3. Should add baking powder at the end or just before baking, and should not overmix the batter after adding the baking powder.

4. It is okay to increase or decrease the number of chopped pistachio nuts as it will not affect the cake’s texture or outcome.

Ingredients, Alternatives, and Tips.

Pistachio Nuts: To add in two different textures and flavors, I have ground half cup of nuts with all-purpose flour, and the other half cup I have finely chopped and added to the batter.

Oil: I have used extra light olive oil, which is neutral oil. Some of the other options are canola oil and vegetable oil. There is no butter in the recipe, which makes it less dense and more fluffy. It also cuts down on time to thaw the butter and to get it to room temperature. 

Eggs: Since we already have yogurt in the recipe, some egg substitutes are 1/2 cup of apple sauce, commercial egg replacers (follow the package instructions), mashed bananas (1/2 cup). Fruit substitution for eggs should not exceed more than 1/2 a cup. The cake will become moister and tend to fall apart.

Sugar: I have used plain white granulated sugar. Some of the other options are brown sugar and honey.

Milk: Almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or any lactose-free milk works!

Main Steps of this Recipe:

1. Making the flour and pistachio mix: Grinding the pistachio nuts and flour in a blender.
2. Making the batter: Adding in all the wet ingredients and dry ingredients (eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, olive oil, yogurt, and the optional food coloring)
3. Adding the flour and nut mixture: Sifting the nuts and flour mixture into the batter and adding the salt and baking powder.
4. Baking: Baking @350 F for 55 minutes
5. Slicing: Wait for the cakes to cool down completely (about an hour) before slicing the cake. 

Process Instructions:

In a blender, add 1/2 cup of pistachio and coarsely grind it. Add 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and blend it again to make a fine powder. Set this aside until ready to use.  In a bowl, take three eggs. Add 3/4 cup of powdered sugar in two batches. Pour half the sugar and beat the eggs. After a minute, add the remaining sugar and continue to beat until well combined. Add 2 tsp of vanilla extract.

Add 1/2 cup of extra light olive oil, 1/2 cup of greek yogurt, green food coloring, and blend the batter for 30 seconds. Sift the pistachio and all-purpose flour mix prepared earlier into the cake batter.

Add 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder, and blend for 1 minute.

Add 1/4 cup of milk and mix until combined. Add 1/2 cup of chopped pistachios and mix it with a spatula—Bake @ 350 F for 55 minutes.

Storage Instructions:

Pistachio pound cake stores well in the refrigerator for four to five days if you keep it in an airtight container. On the kitchen counter for up to three days.
It is good to save in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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