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Homemade Pistachio Butter

By Samira Kazan

published March 07, 2025

Rich, creamy, and bursting with nutty flavor, homemade pistachio butter is simply amazing! With its vibrant green hue and silky texture, it’s a delicious, nutritious, and versatile spread you’ll want to use on everything.

A jar with homemade pistachio butter. - 1

Pistachio nut butter is the kind of thing you try once and wonder where it’s been all your life! It’s rich, creamy, and naturally sweet with that irresistible pistachio flavor—way better than store-bought. Plus, it takes just minutes to make with one ingredient. Yep, just pistachios! OK, and a pinch of salt if you want.

Spread it on toast, swirl it into baked goods, drizzle it over oatmeal, or grab a spoon and go straight in – no judgment here! 😍 Plus, you can gift it to a fellow pistachio lover!

This nut butter really does stand out from the crowd. It’s packed with protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants. Plus, its naturally vibrant green color, smooth texture, and subtly sweet, nutty flavor make it a luxurious treat for everyone.

Making pistachio butter yourself is more cost-effective than store-bought versions, especially when you buy pistachios in bulk. I always keep a large bag of raw shelled pistachios on hand because I use them all the time—for my baklava recipe , homemade pistachio milk , and vegan tart bases. Buying in bulk not only saves money but also makes recipes like this even more accessible.

You can also make other nut butters at home. Two of my favorites are walnut butter and hazelnut butter —just as quick, easy, and delicious!

Watch how to make it
Ingredients
How to make homemade pistachio butter
Pistachio butter serving suggestions
More favorite nut butters
Homemade Pistachio Butter Recipe

Watch how to make it

Ingredients

A photo of pistachios in a heart-shaped bowl. - 2

Raw pistachios: For convenience, use shelled pistachios. But if you don’t mind a bit extra work, unshelled pistachios give the freshest, most delicious flavor! Don’t forget, it’s best to buy in bulk.
Salt: This is optional, but even just a pinch of salt will help enhance the natural flavor of pistachios.

See the printable recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to make homemade pistachio butter

Toast the pistachios: First, roast the shelled pistachios in the oven at 325º/165ºC (fan-assisted) for 10 minutes, turning them halfway. This will give the pistachio butter a delicious, toasty, roasted taste. Roasting them will also help release their natural oils and make them easier to blend.

A collage showing how to toast pistachios. - 3

Let the pistachios cool and transfer to a food processor: Set the roasted pistachios aside and let them cool entirely (about 10 minutes). Optionally, you can remove the pistachio skins after roasting by rubbing them in between a cloth like I did in this peanut butter recipe .

Then, transfer them to your food processor or blender.

Blend until smooth: Next, blend the pistachios until you achieve your desired consistency. The longer you blend, the runnier the nut butter will be.

Make sure to give your machine a break every few minutes and scrape down the sides with a spatula.

Once you achieve your desired consistency, add salt (optionally) and blitz one last time.

A collage of the steps for blending pistachios into nut butter. - 4

The pistachio butter is now ready to enjoy! Transfer it to a glass jar and keep it in the cupboard or fridge.

The color of pistachio butter can vary depending on the type of pistachios used and whether or not the skins are removed. It can range from a vibrant green to a more muted, earthy tone. Either way, it’s delicious!

Pistachio butter serving suggestions

Here are some of my favorite ways to use homemade pistachio butter:

Spread on toast, stir into oatmeal, or blend into smoothies.
Use in baking and desserts, like Almond Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies , Avocado Ice Cream , and more.
Spread crostini or pancakes, or add to vegan tart bases.
You can also use a couple of spoonfuls of pistachio water and blend them with water to quickly make homemade pistachio milk .

A spoon drizzling homemade pistachio butter in a jar. - 5

More favorite nut butters

A spoonful of homemade almond butter over a jar - 6

A spoonful of homemade almond butter over a jar - 7

A spoonful of homemade cashew butter over a jar - 8

A spoonful of homemade cashew butter over a jar - 9

Homemade peanut butter in a food processor - 10

Homemade peanut butter in a food processor - 11

A delicious and nutritious one ingredient homemade walnut butter recipe with lots of flavoured walnut butter suggestions and walnut butter recipes and uses! ( including as an edible Christmas gift) - 12

A delicious, Vegan one ingredient homemade brazil nut butter recipe with flavoured brazil nut butter options, health benefits of brazil nuts and brazil nut butter uses! - 14

Top view of hazelnut butter and three hazelnuts in a jar and hazelnuts around it on a flat surface - 16

Top view of hazelnut butter and three hazelnuts in a jar and hazelnuts around it on a flat surface - 17

Equipment

Food Processor or blender

IngredientsUS CustomaryMetric1x2x3x

▢ 3 cups pistachios raw shelled
▢ 1/2 tsp salt

This will yield about1.5cups of pistachio butter.

Instructions

Roast the shelled pistachios in the oven at 325º/165ºC (fan-assisted) for 10 minutes, turning them halfway.
Leave them to cool entirely (about 10 minutes). Optionally, remove the skins.
Transfer the roasted pistachios to a blender or food processor and blend them until the nut butter is smooth and creamy. The longer you blend, the smoother and runnier the nut butter will become. Scrape down the sides with a spatula as needed, and give your machine a break every few minutes to avoid overheating.
Once you’ve reached your desired consistency, add the salt and blitz again to combine. Transfer the pistachio butter to a jar and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Recipes › Desserts

Almond Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies Recipe

By Samira Kazan

updated September 21, 2020

Delicious gluten-free, vegan bite-size almond & pistachio thumbprint cookies. Not only are they easy to make- they can either be baked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe!

Delicious gluten-free, vegan bite-size snacks; almond & pistachio thumbprint cookies - 19

These almond pistachio thumbprint cookies are a delicious vegan and gluten-free cookies recipe using almond flour and pistachio butter. Unlike your generic shortbread thumbprint cookies, these vegan bite-size snacks have a delightful crumbly almond base and can be cooked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe.

Depending on whether you want these as raw snacks or baked cookies, they are delicious. However, it’s worth noting that there will be some textural difference.

For the raw version, these pistachio thumbprint cookies are a little more gooey and moist. In comparison, when baked, these cookies are more crumbly.

Delicious gluten-free, vegan bite-size snacks; almond & pistachio thumbprint cookies recipe. Not only are they easy to make- they can either be baked or kept as a no-bake cookie recipe! - 20

I always love to switch up classic recipes and decided that rather than using the usual choice of jam filling for this thumbprint cookie recipe, I used some homemade pistachio butter .

Pistachio butter is one of the most delicious, decadent version of all nut butters and yet can be made at home with just pistachios, salt and a blender or food processor. Plus the pistachio flavour compliments the flavour of the gluten-free almond cookies.

These cookies are then an excellent healthier cookie snack option. They can also be displayed in mini cupcake cakes, in a gift box, for a delicious homemade edible gift at Christmas (or any time of the year!).

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’ve been cooking up a storm this festive period, with a new recipe posted every day. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for the day to share these pistachio thumbprint cookies though because they are one of my favourite treats so far.

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I’ve very recently compiled a post for the ultimate guide to homemade nut & seed butters, so I have spent a LOT of time this year in the kitchen blending up delicious nut butters and nut butter recipes. As much as I have a soft spot for good old almond butter, pistachio butter has taken my heart.

While it’s not a nut butter you’d want to eat by the spoonful every day (or rather you would – but your hips wouldn’t like it!), pistachio butter has an incredible luxury element that works well in so many different recipes. Check out my pistachio butter post for some inspiration.

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Variations on these thumbprint cookies
How To Make The Thumbprint Cookies
Other great snack recipes you may like
Pistachio Almond Cookies Recipe

Variations on these thumbprint cookies

Obviously, my filling of choice is my homemade pistachio butter. However, you can experiment with various fillings including a delicious vegan homemade Nutella , the classic choice of jam, or even some vegan chocolate chips (that will melt from the heat and be heavenly!).

For a sweeter pistachio creme style filling, melt some white chocolate in a heatproof bowl then mix in some pistachio butter with a dash of homemade vanilla powder .

You can also make a delicious chocolate version of these pistachio thumbprint cookies by adding some cocoa powder into the base almond cookies recipe. If the biscuit mix feels too crumbly after adding the powder, add another tsp of coconut oil to offset the powder.

Plus, you can experiment with additional toppings for the pistachio thumbprint cookies. For example, a drizzle of melted white chocolate is a lovely dessert-like touch.

Note* For vegan cookies use dairy-free white chocolate and chocolate chips.

How To Make The Thumbprint Cookies

This pistachio thumbprint cookies recipe is super simple and can be made in just five minutes if you’re keeping them raw. Or around 20 minutes, if baking- which means they’re an excellent option for a last-minute edible gift idea or to whip up on busy days when you don’t have much time to spare.

the ingredients for vegan, gluten-free thumbprint cookies - 24

The almond cookies base is made up of almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, coconut flour and cardamon.

Don’t fret if you don’t have almond flour to hand though as this can be whizzed up in a couple of minutes. Blitz some raw almonds in a high-speed food processor for a couple of minutes and you’ll get homemade almond flour, which is a great gluten-free flour to have to hand at all times.

This recipe is also a great way to use leftover almond pulp after making homemade almond milk . Simply allow the pulp to dry out, and it’s ready to use as almond flour.

Note* For this particular recipe the ground almonds don’t have to be too fine, which is why any of the above options will work fine for the almond cookies recipe.

The method

To begin, mix the almond flour with the other base ingredients and then form small, one bite-sized cookies. If you want you can measure these out and use around 1tbsp per cookie. However, I eyeballed it and made 14 of them.

To make them into thumbprint cookies, the process is precisely what it says. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, and then you can use a finger/ thumb to make the indentations. You could also use the rounded back of a spoon. In fact, I used a small 1/2 tsp measuring spoon for an even indentation in each cookie.

If you’re in a hurry to enjoy these delicious cookies, then you can have these as a no-bake cookie recipe by simply adding some pistachio butter to them now and decorating with some pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios.

Note* Due to the gluten-free nature of these cookies and the lack of dairy, these cookies are more crumbly than general cookie dough so cracking around the edges when pressing your indentation is perfectly normal.

However, if you want to bake the cookies, then you can now bake them in the oven either in mini cupcake cups or on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

delicious thumbprint cookie recipe for gluten-free almond cookies - 27

These only take ten minutes to bake in the oven and will turn a lovely golden colour around the edges.

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If you want to use some chocolate chips as a filling, you’ll want to add these to the cookies while they’re still warm, so they melt into the thumbprint.

For the pistachio butter-filled cookies, allow the cookies to cool down a bit before filling them.

homemade two ingredient pistachio butter - 29

Again you can decorate the pistachio cookies with pomegranate seeds and ground pistachios or even a sprinkle of desiccated coconut. Also, feel free to experiment with other fillings and toppings of your choice.

For a sweeter, dessert-like version you can drizzle some white chocolate over the cookies at the end. Or, for a chocolate thumbprint cookie version, you can add some cocoa powder into the base almond cookie recipe.

Other great snack recipes you may like

For another delicious no-bake snack recipe, you may like these healthy cacao & almond protein balls or these coconut bliss balls . These 4-Ingredient Stuffed Dates: with home-made almond butter & Chocolate are always a winner too!