The Rich Pastries That Benefit From A Pistachio Crunch

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Lovers of pastries might have strong opinions as to whether or not it's "nuts" to add crunchy ingredients like almonds, pecans, or walnuts to their favorite sweet treats. If you're curious about incorporating pistachio into your baked goods, you may be tempted to start with something simple and smooth like pistachio cream. With that said, chopped pistachios are an excellent unexpected filling to add to your cinnamon rolls for a major textural upgrade. The benefits of adding pistachios to your next batch of homemade cinnamon rolls are, much like a pistachio itself, multifaceted.

For one, chopped pistachios provide a lovely crunch to vary up the mouthfeel of ordinary fluffy cinnamon rolls. Second to this is the beautiful bit of green color that shines through in the filling and topping, making the cinnamon rolls look as good as they taste. Finally, you can't deny that pistachios are rich in protein and other nutrients, making them an ideal inclusion in an otherwise decadent pastry.

It's important to have evenly chopped pistachio pieces for consistency in your cinnamon roll filling, and to reserve some extra to sprinkle on top after you've removed your freshly baked rolls from the oven. You can either use a knife or choose from other methods for chopping nuts without a knife to help streamline the process. For example, if you want the nuts especially finely ground, try a food processor to get them to the right consistency. It all depends on how coarse or fine you want this crunchy addition to be. You could also order some pre-chopped pistachios from Amazon.

Combine approximately 1 cup of chopped pistachios with 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar, a tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Start by brushing melted butter over all the dough and then gently spreading the mixture of pistachios, brown sugar, and cinnamon across the dough, leaving enough room for cutting and rolling. Feel free to get extra creative with your flavors in addition to the classic cinnamon mixture. Try adding citrus zest to your dough and cardamom to your filling mixture for even more flavor. You can also give your cinnamon rolls a Dubai chocolate bar-inspired twist by adding a luscious chocolate ganache on top.