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–+ servings
3 pistachio croissants in a baking dish
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Pistachio Croissant with Homemade Pistachio Cream

Crispy croissants, filled with nutella, pistachio cream and chopped pistachios, baked until warm and melted. One of the best things EVER!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Easy Dessert
Cuisine: worldwide
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Margie Nomura

Ingredients

For the pistachio cream:

  • 5.25 oz shelled, unsalted raw pistachios you can shell them yourself but it takes a while so buy shelled if you can!
  • 6 fl oz whole milk divided
  • 1 oz salted butter about 2 tbsp
  • 3.5 oz white chocolate
  • 1 tbsp confectioners' sugar (icing sugar) powdered sugar

For the croissants:

  • 6 croissants store-bought is perfect and a little stale ideally
  • 1 handful shelled pistachios chopped
  • 1 jar Nutella
  • confectioners' sugar (icing sugar) for decoration
  • Milk chocolate melted (to drizzle on top)

For the syrup:

  • 3.5 oz sugar about 1/2 cup
  • 3.3 fl oz water about scant 1/2 cup
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the cream:

  • I always start by boiling the shelled pistachios for 3 minutes to soften them. Then drain them and set them on a clean towel to dry.
  • Then use the towel to rub the pistachios to loosen the skins. You want to separate the pistachios from the skins and discard them. This step does take a little time but I promise it’s worth it.
  • Tip the pistachios into a food processor with 3 1/3 fl oz (100 ml) of the milk, about scant 1/2 cup, and 1 tablespoon of confectioners' sugar. Blitz for around 5 minutes until the pistachios turn into a smooth paste, scraping down the sides every minute or so. Be patient – to begin with, it will resemble breadcrumbs but eventually, it will turn into a paste – this is important.
  • Heat the rest of the milk along with the butter and white chocolate in a saucepan and heat gently until melted.
  • Scoop the pistachio paste into a blender and then pour in the melted white chocolate mixture. Blitz until extra smooth and creamy.

For the syrup:

  • Add the sugar, water, and vanilla to a pan. Heat over medium and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer for one minute then remove from the heat.

To assemble:

  • Heat the oven to 392°F (200°C/180°C fan).
  • Slice the croissants in half and brush each side with sugar syrup. Place on a baking sheet. Spread the bottom with Nutella then pipe on some pistachio cream. Sandwich together and pipe the top with more pistachio cream. Scatter with chopped pistachios and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until toasty and golden.
  • Dust with icing sugar and drizzle with melted chocolate or more Nutella and enjoy!

Notes

The pistachio cream will keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks but I highly doubt you will have any problems using it.
Of course this can be made using store-bought pistachio paste which will make this recipe even easier!

Nutrition

Calories: 586kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 278mg | Potassium: 417mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 703IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 2mg