Pistachio croissants - with a flaky, crispy and crunchy outside, and a creamy, gooey pistachio inside, these bakery-style croissants truly are a nutty treat. Brushed with syrup and baked until golden and crisp, this twist on almond croissants is the perfect way to use up day-old croissants.
They're quick, easy and totally crave-worthy. Why not try making your croissants from scratch too!
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❤️ Why you'll love them
- A bakery-style treat made quick and easy at home
- Creamy, nutty and gooey pistachio filling
- Perfect way to make croissants even better
- Delicious way to revive day-old croissants
- Sweet, nutty and irresistibly crisp on top
- Freezer-friendly and easy to reheat in the oven
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Ingredients & substitutions
With just 8 ingredients, plus some water from the tap, these pistachio croissants give the classic almond croissants a run for their money. And they're even better than one from a bakery because you can have them beautifully fresh from the oven in your own home.
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
- Day-old croissants: It's best to use day-old / stale croissants here, first and foremost because fresh, soft-centre croissants will just end up a bit soggy, but also because you can breathe new delicious life into croissants that have past their best. You can use store-bought croissants or, if you're feeling game, why not try making your own croissants from scratch!
- Pistachios: You want already shelled and unsalted pistachios. Feel free to roast them a little first for an even more intense nutty flavour.
- Flour: Just some plain flour (all-purpose flour) for a little structure in the filling.
- Sugar: Stick to white sugar here as the flavour of brown sugar will compete with the nuts a little.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter.
- Egg: Ignore the two eggs in the ingredients photo, you only need one.
- Almond extract: Try to get an extract and not essence for the best flavour. It adds extra nuttiness.
- Amaretto liqueur: Liqueur is optional and you could try different ones to suit your palette but Amaretto is lovely here. Frangelico works well too. You could also use rum or brandy.
How to make pistachio croissants
If you love an easy recipe, just like me, you're going to love pistachio-filled croissants. There's nothing difficult here, though you will need a food processor to blend the pistachios to a rough flour consistency. I actually find my mini food chopper does the best job.
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
Make the syrup
The syrup adds sweetness and adds freshness to the inside of the croissants. It also tastes delicous. Just combine the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stir the sugar to dissolve, then let it simmer for a minute or so. Set aside to cool.
Blend the pistachios
Process the pistachios as finely as you can. A little more coarse than regular flour is fine. Don't take it too far or the oils will come out and turn it into pistachio paste.
Make the frangipane filling
Start by creaming together butter and sugar until very light and creamy. Beat in the egg and almond extract on low speed until fully incorporated. Finally beat in the ground pistachios and flour.
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Slice the croissants
Slice the croissants in half, as if they were buns you want to add fillings to. So you'll have a top and bottom half to each.
Brush on syrup
Brush the syrup over the top of the croissants....
Then open them up and brush it on the insides.
Add the frangipane
Spread ⅔ of the pistachio frangipane filling on the bottoms of each of the croissants.
Finish the tops and bake
Add the tops then spread the remaining frangipane over the tops and sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.
Tips and tricks
- Use day-old or stale croissants. Fresh croissants are too soft inside and the texture will end up to mushy.
- When beating the frangipane, ensure the butter and sugar are well creamed before adding the egg. Make sure the egg is at room temperature. This way the egg will mix into the butter and sugar better.
- Let them cool just a little but pistachio croissants are lovely served warm from the oven.
Variations
- Citrus: Adding some orange zest or lemon zest to your pistachio croissants adds a lovely, fresh citrus kick.
- Other nuts: You can make your frangipane with other nuts like almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts for a different flavour.
- Roast the nuts first for some extra nuttiness. Just 7-8 minutes in an oven at 180C/350F. Let them cool completely before blending.
- Chocolate: For extra indulgence, try adding some chocolate chips inside or a drizzle of chocolate on the outside.
Storage
- Fridge: Leftover pistachio-filled croissants are best stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. To serve again, reheat in the oven at 180C/350F for 10 minutes.
- Frozen: They can be frozen too in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat them in the oven as above.
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If you made this pistachio croissants recipe,
be sure to leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. Thank you!
Pistachio Croissants
Video
Equipment
- Small or medium heavy-based saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Electric handheld beater helpful but not essential
- Silicone baking mat helpful but not essential
Ingredients
- 6 medium/large day-old croissants
- 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios for topping
- icing sugar (powdered sugar) for topping
SYRUP
- ½ cup water (125ml)
- ¼ cup sugar (50g / 1 ¾oz)
- 1 tablespoon Amaretto optional (notes 1)
PISTACHIO FILLING
- 115 g shelled and skinless pistachios or ground pistachios (¾ cup / 4oz)
- 85 g unsalted butter softened
- 100 g white granulated sugar 3 ½ oz
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon almond extract optional
- 2 teaspoons plain flour all purpose flour (5g)
Instructions
- MAKE THE SYRUP:In a small saucepan, add the water, ¼ cup of sugar and Amaretto.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat for 1 minute or so, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour it into a bowl and set aside to cool.
- MAKE THE PISTACHIO FILLING:If you have ground pistachios, you can move straight to step 4. Add the pistachios to a food processor or blender and process to a fine crumb. Make sure to stop and mix regularly so the nuts don't turn oily. If they're getting too warm stop for a few minutes then return to it. Nuts can turn to nut butter very quickly and we don't want that here.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or medium bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add the egg and almond extract, beating on low until fully incorporated.
- Beat on low or fold in the ground pistachios and flour with a spatula.
- ASSEMBLING THE PISTACHIO CROISSANTS: Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Slice the croissant in half through the middle so you have two slices (like having the top and bottom half of a bread bun).
- Brush the tops of each croissant with the syrup, then open them up and brush all the insides. Don't brush the bottoms.
- Spread roughly ⅔ of the pistachio filling over the inside bottom halves and place the top of the croissant on top.
- Spread the remaining pistachio filling over the tops of the croissants and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden on top.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
Tara says
Earlier this year I had a similarly made almond croissant and I’ve been obsessed. It only occurred to me this week I could make my own, and with pistachios (of which I am also obsessed).
Oh! My god. This was relatively easy and so delicious and amazing with coffee.
Speaking of coffee, I substituted water for coffee in the glaze. Not sure it made much of a difference.
I also recommend putting the franzapane in a pastry bag for easier application and to prevent crushing the delicate pastry.
Marie says
I'm so happy you enjoyed them, Tara.
Brittany says
These came out AMAZING! I followed the recipe to a T except I put a lot more of the pistachio cream on the tops & I also brushed the bottoms with that amaretto simple syrup. To everyone else thinking of doing that: don't! Brushing the bottoms with the simple syrup made them too soft on the bottom, so it made the overall structure just a smidge too flimsy. Also: because I added too much of the cream on the tops it totally melted and covered the entire surface of the croissants. The result, while absolutely STELLAR in flavor, was quite, well, ugly. So my advice is to stay frugal on the amount of cream on the tops (less is more) and follow her instructions & do not brush the bottoms with simple syrup. These are my mistakes, not the recipe's.
Absolutely phenomenal flavor and complexity. I will be making these again, and again...
and again. Thank you for such an awesome recipe!!!!
Marie says
Thank you so much, Brittany. I'm so happy you love them 🙂