Pistachio Buttercream Recipe

Pistachio buttercream is one delectable frosting! You can put it on cakes, cupcakes, and even whoopie pies.

Even when it’s still full-blown winter, my mind is always jumping ahead of the seasons. I am always thinking all things spring. And this pistachio buttercream recipe is always top of mind for spring — the perfect green color for St. Patrick's Day and the ideal, light treat for Easter (and honestly any time).

It’s not that I suffer through winter, though the heat did break in our house — so that was a fun, unexpected expense. *Frown.* But at least it’s Florida, so I was not terribly miserable.

A Springtime Treat

Nevertheless, my mind was onto spring, and I’m so ready for it. Once Christmas and New Years were over, it was like: bring on the citrus, berries, pineapple, coconut, angel food cake, pudding pies, and other light and refreshing desserts.

No more caramel, pumpkin, gingerbread, cranberry, or peppermint.

Spring is also the most beautiful season here in Florida. It just seems to be the least humid time of the year here, in the low-70s every day, and cool evenings.

Perfection!

Lately, I am busy brainstorming all of the wonderful desserts that I’ll make for Easter and for springtime in general, and I’m very excited about it.

An idea that came to mind, and that I’d never tried before until recently, was this Pistachio Buttercream. Pistachio is something that always feels very ‘spring-y’ to me.

I think maybe it’s because most pistachio desserts are pastel green? And pastel colors remind me of spring, of course!

Funny how most pistachio desserts don’t contain actual pistachios. It’s one of the few artificial flavors that is totally delicious!

I set out to make a Pistachio Buttercream recipe, and while I haven’t totally decided what I’m going to slather it onto yet, I have all sorts of awesome ideas. Might make for a delicious frosting to these pistachio sugar cookie bars, or my grandma’s pistachio bread.  

I’m not too concerned — I know I’ll put this pistachio buttercream to excellent use. I could even just spread it onto crackers or ‘Nilla wafers.

How to Make Pistachio Buttercream

This was so simple to make. Just as easy as any standard buttercream recipe.

I mixed together some instant pistachio pudding mix with milk in a small bowl, and then after it thoroughly dissolved in the milk, I whipped that together with butter and powdered sugar in a larger bowl.

The texture was silky smooth, and very light and fluffy. Let your mixer do the work, whipping away, and you’ll end up with a flavorful and sweet Pistachio Buttercream that will make for an excellent frosting to a great many springy desserts!

That's literally all it takes!

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Pistachio Buttercream Ingredients

You literally only need four ingredients to make this recipe, which yields 24 servings!

• 1/4 cup Instant Pistachio Pudding
• 1/3 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
• 3 cups Powdered Sugar

You could experiment with differnt kinds of milk, but I recommend using whole milk. Also this may be obvious, but unsalted butter is the right choice here! Your most important ingredient is the instant pistachio pudding, of course!

Tools You'll Need

I strongly recommend letting a KitchenAid Stand Mixer (or something similar) do the work for you here to get this buttercream to the right fluffy texture! You'll also want a spatula, and as mentioned, you need some bowls for mixing. Otherwise, this is incredibly straightforward!

You can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for several days, but in general I recommend making this shortly before you need it — the recipe only takes 10 minutes, all told — and then using it to frost cupcakes or whatever your heart desires and consuming it in the first couple days!