Pistachio Muffins for St. Patrick’s Day

Green muffins? Well, they’re not really green but they are green enough for St. Patrick’s Day. The chopped pistachios are mixed in the muffins and sprinkled on the tops.

This is a nice crunchy muffin with a great pistachio flavor. Though designed for St. Patrick’s Day, these muffins are great everyday.

This is an easy muffin to put together but shelling all those pistachios takes a little time. Solve that problem by shelling them in front of the TV the night before or let the kids help.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Watkins Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Watkins Nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon Watkins Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Watkins Rum Extract
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped plus more to sprinkle on tops of muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare the muffin tins by greasing them well.

2. Combine the dry ingredients including the zest and finely chopped pistachios in a large bowl.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the eggs, one at a time, into the creamed mixture until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and rum extracts.

4. Starting with about 1/4 of the dry mixture, alternately add part of the dry ingredients and the milk, briefly mixing after each addition. Do not over-mix the batter.

5. Scoop the batter into the prepared tins. Sprinkle the tops with the coarsely chopped pistachios. Place the muffins in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes or until the muffins test done. After the muffins have cooled for five minutes, remove them from the tins to cool on a wire rack. Makes ten large muffins.

Eleisia Whitney
http://www.watkinsonline.com/eleisiawhitney

Watkins Home-Based Business Opportunity
http://www.vanillasage.com

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