I’ve begun a love affair with pistachio milk.
I love it for its back-of-the-tongue nuttiness, its velvety viscosity and its pale green hue. It tastes delicious when mixed with matcha and served over ice—the way I first tasted it—or slightly sweetened and gulped directly from the fridge-cooled pitcher.
I wanted to expand my consumption of my new favorite nut milk from the imbibable to the spoonable, so I came up with the idea to make it into a pudding. A whole vanilla bean adds depth of flavor and a layer of coconut and crushed graham crackers add textural interest to create an addictive little dessert that just happens to be vegan. The end result is so creamy that you’ll never miss the dairy—promise!
And lest you’re intimidated by making your own nut milk, fear not! It’s just about the easiest process in the world.
Pistachio Milk
Ingredients:
• 12 oz shelled and roasted pistachios
• 6 cups water
• nut milk bag
Directions:
1. Pour your pistachios into a bowl and cover with water. Let soak overnight if you can. If you’re in a rush, just cover the pistachios with nearly boiling water and let soak for an hour or two. You might get a little less yield from the pistachios this way, but don’t sweat it too much.
2. Drain any water that hasn’t been absorbed by the pistachios and add the nuts to the blender. It’s important to use a really high-powered blender, otherwise you won’t get the texture you’re looking for. Add the 6 cups of water and blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Pour the contents of the blender into the nut milk bag and wring it out into a bowl. The is the fun part—it’s so satisfying! Use immediately or store in the fridge and use as needed.
Pistachio Milk Pudding Cups
Ingredients:
• 2 cups pistachio milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean
Directions:
1. Add the dry ingredients to a medium saucepan, then whisk in the pistachio milk. Be sure to pour slowly and mix quickly so you don’t have any lumps.
2. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Use the back of your knife to scrape the seeds from the inside of the pod, then add the seeds to the pan.
3. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Your mixture should begin to thicken in a couple of minutes. If it’s still really runny at that point, you can turn up the heat just a bit. Be sure to stir diligently—you don’t want any lumps and you don’t want the bottom to scorch.
4. After the mixture has thickened, cook for two more minutes to ensure you’re getting rid of that raw cornstarch taste. You’ll know the pudding is done when it coats the back of a spoon.
5. While the pudding cools just a bit, crush some graham crackers. Then, spoon some pudding into your cup so it’s about about half full. Add a layer of crushed graham crackers* and a layer of shredded coconut. Top with another layer of pudding. Let set and dig in!
*If you’re planning on keeping these in the fridge to snack on over the next few days, I’d keep the graham crackers out and just add them to the top as you eat the pudding.
