These pistachio croissants are flaky, buttery, and filled with nutty pistachio frangipane. They’re quick and easy to make with store-bought croissants.
If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I love frangipane. Like if it were my last day on earth, I would want to eat anything with frangipane. I adore it so much that I’ve developed several frangipane-forward dessert recipes that you all have LOVED (all at the bottom of this post) – they collectively have more than 200 reviews on the site and more than 2M views on TikTok and Instagram.
And I have had pistachio frangipane in my head for a while. So I am STOKED to share this recipe for pistachio croissants with you. It is SO easy – you don’t need a hand mixer, and you can use store bought croissants.
Pistachio croissants have a delicious salty-sweet flavor. They are SO incredible. Just look at the text my neighbor sent me when I dropped off pistachio croissants.
This post is all about a BANGIN’ pistachio croissants recipe.
Pistachio Croissants
What are pistachio croissants?
Pistachio croissants are buttery croissants that have a pistachio filling. There are two kinds of pistachio croissants:
- Pistachio cream croissants: croissants filled with a light pistachio pastry cream. This is the kind of pistachio croissant most common at bakeries. It’s more complicated to make since you need to make pastry cream. IMO, pistachio cream croissants are less tasty than frangipane croissants.
- Pistachio frangipane croissants: croissants with pistachio frangipane (pistachiso, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla) in the middle. The filling is more gooey and fudgy.
For this recipe, we are making pistachio frangipane croissants. They’re easier and quicker to make than pistachio cream croissants, and IMO are WAY more delicious.
Ingredients
These pistachio croissants use just 7 ingredients:
- Store-bought croissants: ideally 1-3 days old, so they truly soak up our delicious filling
- Unsalted butter: butter is a key flavor in these croissants, so opt for the best quality butter you can. Cabot is a quality, affordable butter in Brooklyn where I live.
- Granulated sugar
- Egg: we just need one egg for this recipe, two if you’re doubling it!
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Roasted and salted shelled pistachios: just one bag will work. You want to make sure they’re roasted and salted, as that is KEY to the flavor of the recipe.
How to make pistachio croissants
1. Make the simple syrup. We use simple syrup to soak the croissants so they get that crispy exterior and nice and are nice and soft inside. To make simple syrup, you’ll combine equal parts water and sugar in a pot over low to medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts. Set aside to cool while you prep the rest of the croissants.
2. Make the pistachio frangipane. You’ll pulse pistachios briefly in a food processor or NutriBullet (I use my Ninja blender) until they are finely ground to make pistachio flour. Be careful not to over-pulse or you’ll get nut butter. You’ll then mix the butter and sugar together, stir in the egg and vanilla extract, and then stir in the ground pistachios and salt. Boom, you just made frangipane!
3. Now you’re ready to assemble the pistachio croissants. Slice the stale croissants in half so they’re like a hamburger bun. Brush the simple syrup over the bottom half, then spoon on frangipane. Put the top on, brush with more simple syrup, spoon on a little more frangipane and a sprinkle of pistachios.
4. Bake on a baking tray until the tops of the croissants are golden brown.
Fresh vs Stale Croissants
You ideally want stale croissants when making pistachio croissants. Stale croissants are far easier to slice. Plus they soak up the syrup and frangipane better since they’re dry and searching for moisture.
That said, you can use fresh croissants. They’ll just be a little bit more difficult to cut and work with!
Pistachio croissant FAQs
This recipe makes 5 loaded croissants. If you prefer less filling in your croissants, you can spread it over 6 croissants.
Absolutely! This is a very easy recipe to double.
Yes! These croissants are best enjoyed day of, but you can eat them 1-2 days later as well. I’ve done it plenty of times 😉
As I said above, 1-2 day old croissants are best, but you can make these with fresh croissants, too.
More Frangipane Recipes
If you, like me, are obsessed with frangipane, check out these recipes!
- Almond frangipane blondies: this is the first frangipane-forward recipe I ever developed, and it’s a banger with more than 130 five-star reviews.
- Fudgy bakewell blondies: basically almond frangipane blondies, but with raspberry jam swirled in for a stuning fruity, almondy dessert.
- Almond frangipane brownies: almond frangipane is swirled on top of fudgy brownies for a DREAM nutty brownie.
- How to make homemade frangipane: want to make your own frangipane-forward desserts? Check out this full guide to make frangipane at home, with ideas of other recipes to use it with.
It means the world to me when you make the recipes I’ve worked on! If you make these pistachio criossants, please leave a rating and review below to let me know how it goes. And tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such!
Quick and Easy Homemade Pistachio Croissants
5-6 croissants
15
minutes15
minutes30
minutesThese pistachio croissants are flaky, buttery, and filled with nutty pistachio frangipane. They’re quick and easy to make with store-bought croissants.
This recipe makes 5 loaded croissants. If you prefer less filling in your croissants, you can spread it over 6 croissants.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- For the simple syrup
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water
- For the Pistachio Croissants
1/3 cup (66 grams) roasted and salted shelled pistachios, finely ground
4 TBS. (57 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Hefty pinch of kosher or sea salt
5-6 stale croissants (1-2 days old)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- First, make the simple syrup. Stir the sugar and water together in a small pot over the stove on medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool while you prep the rest of the recipe.
Alternately, you can put the sugar and water together in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between each until the sugar is dissolved. - Next, make the pistachio frangipane. Using a fork, cream together the butter and sugar in a medium bowl until soft and paler in color, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract. The texture might look a little chunky/not evenly dispersed. That is okay! Stir in the almond flour and salt until evenly combined.
- Cut the croissants in half lengthwise so they’re like a hamburger bun. Place them on the baking sheets with the cut sides up. Using a pastry brush, generously spread simple syrup on the bottom halves. Spread about two tablespoons of pistachio frangipane – make sure to save a bit of frangipane for the tops.
Place the top halves back on so the croissants are a pistachio sandwich. Brush more simple syrup on the top of the croissants. Dot about 1 teaspoon of pistachio frangipane on top of each croissant, and stick some chopped pistachios into the frangipane dots. - Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the pistachio frangipane on top looks pretty set. Let cool slightly, and enjoy! These will last 1-3 days, though they are best eaten fresh and warm from the oven.
Equipment
