Fluffy & Moist Vegan Pistachio Cake (One Bowl! Easy!)
This light and fluffy one bowl pistachio cake is made with just 6 simple ingredients in 7 steps, and loaded with nutty and sweet roasted pistachios. Topped with a pistachio cream cheese frosting for the most perfectly moist cake with a tender crumb!
Let’s talk about this unbelievably delicious vegan pistachio cake:
If you’re a pistachio lover, then you must try this unbelievably vegan pistachio cake. Seriously, you’d never know it’s vegan, dairy free, and made entirely without eggs.
It’s truly magic.
I’m a big cake lover, and I have to say, next to my vegan blueberry lemon cake and vegan strawberry cake, this has to be the easiest cake I’ve ever made.
This pistachio cake is one bowl and only made with 6 simple ingredients. No artificial flavors, not even any food coloring. We’re relying on the natural green and yellow hue of pistachios to give it that lovely bright green color, and the flavor is unimaginable.
Just sweet enough with a hint of saltiness from the pistachios, and that deliciously buttery nuttiness throughout. Plus, topped with the lush pistachio cream cheese frosting (all dairy free by the way- though you’d never know! I even use it on my pistachio cheesecake), this soft and fluffy pistachio sheet cake tastes like a slice of heaven.
Just buttery sweet with subtle notes of vanilla and a whole lot of real pistachio. As a vegan pistachio cake should be!
And if you like nutty cakes, be sure to check out my almond raspberry cake and peanut butter swirled strawberry sheet cake too!
Honestly, this vegan pistachio cake rivals my love of vegan vanilla cake and vegan chocolate cake (both of which have countless five star ratings from readers)- so you KNOW this is good.
Simple Pantry Ingredients:
- Salted pistachios: We’re completely omitting the salt in the recipe to account for the salt in the pistachios. Since it’s very hard to find unsalted pistachios that are shelled (at least I’ve found!), I’ve created this recipe to account for the salt in the pistachios. You can use lightly salted pistachios if you’d like! We’ll also use the pistachios to make pistachio butter.
- Almond extract: Most pistachio-flavored desserts actually get their flavor from almonds (think pistachio ice cream or my vegan chocolate pistachio muffins in my cookbook!). However, we’re just using a touch to help enhance the natural nutty and delicious flavor of pistachios! You can actually just omit all together if you are having a hard time finding it or have everything you need BUT the extract. The pistachios will really shine through still!
- Vegan butter: I recommend Miyoko’s or Violife vegan butter here.
- Dairy free yogurt: This is our vegan egg substitute. I LOVE how yogurt acts in cake and cookie recipes as an egg replacement. It’s truly 1:1 and you’d never know the difference in texture. I love using Forager Project unsweetened cashew milk yogurt, but you can use your favorite!
- Vegan buttermilk: Don’t worry- you don’t have to run to the store for this ingredient! You’ll simply combine your favorite dairy free milk (I recommend soy milk or almond milk, but you can use coconut milk or oat milk) with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to create that curdle. The measurements are down below in the recipe card.
- Flour: You can either make this pistachio cake with all purpose flour or with gluten free 1:1 baking flour. If you’re making it gluten free, I personally recommend using King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour. If you’re not using this one, please make sure your mix includes xanthan gum!
- Sugar: I love using Florida Crystals sugar here because it’s 100% vegan and organic. And you can really taste the difference!
How to make pistachio flour and pistachio butter:
The key to this vegan pistachio cake is in the homemade pistachio flour (and pistachio butter!). The pistachio flour will be integrated into the cake batter, whereas the pistachio butter will be mixed into the cream cheese frosting.
Both, however, will be made in a food processor! Of course, if you can find pistachio butter in stores, you can absolutely just purchase a jar (it’s very hard to find where I am, so I just make it at home!).
But to make the pistachio flour, you’ll simply grind the unshelled pistachios in a food processor for a minute or two.
Step by Step How To Make a Vegan Pistachio Cake:
Can I make this into a layered pistachio cake?
Absolutely! This pistachio cake batter will yield about two 8″ cake layers or three 6″ cake layers. You will need to make 1.5x the frosting in order to frost a two layer 8″ cake.
You could also make cupcakes from this vegan pistachio cake batter as well! You’ll yield about 24 cupcakes.
Topping & decoration ideas:
I really wanted to keep this vegan pistachio sheet cake super simple, so I simply used crushed pistachios to top 🙂 Here are a few more ideas!
- Edible flowers
- Lemon zest and vegan lemon curd
- Fresh berries
- Vegan caramel
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Fluffy & Moist Vegan Pistachio Cake (One Bowl! Easy!)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This light and fluffy one bowl pistachio cake is made with just 6 simple ingredients and loaded with nutty and sweet roasted pistachios. Topped with a pistachio cream cheese frosting for the most perfectly moist cake with a tender crumb!
Ingredients
Vegan Pistachio Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups (300 mL) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted vegan butter (I recommend Miyoko’s or Flora Plant butter), melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup (240 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/3 cups (170 g) whole shelled salted pistachios
- 2 1/2 cups (315 g) all-purpose flour (or gluten free 1:1 baking flour + 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch)
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
Vegan Pistachio Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) pistachio butter*
- 4 cups (450 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup crushed pistachios, for decoration
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper. Measure out all ingredients. Prep the vegan buttermilk if you haven’t already.
- Blend the pistachios: In a large food processor, process the pistachios into a crumbly flour, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- Make the batter: Whisk together the melted vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Then add in the pistachio flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda while also pouring in the vegan buttermilk. Whisk JUST until the dry ingredients are integrated into the wet ingredients.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool: Remove the cake from the oven, and allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the vegan pistachio cream cheese frosting: Once the cake is fully cooled, you can make the frosting. Cream together the vegan butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer or in a stand mixer with whisk attachment. Add in the pistachio butter and vanilla extract, and mix together until completely combined, stopping to scrape down the bottom as necessary. Then add in the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments, scraping the bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Frost and decorate: Spread the cream cheese frosting onto the cooled cake, and decorate. Slice and serve!
Notes
Pistachio butter: If you can’t find pistachio butter in store, you can make it at home in your food processor. Simply roast 2 cups of shelled pistachios at 350F for 5 minutes. Then blend them in your food processor for about 10-12 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the grounds down.
if i’m not a vegan, could i sub everything for regular items ?
Hi Taylor! I haven’t personally tried this, as I’m vegan, but theoretically, yes!
I just made this and it was PERFECT!!! Made it for Mother’s Day and everyone at the table was speechless.
The texture was light and fluffy, the frosting was heavennnnn, and it finally convinced my family that vegan sweets are just as good (if not better) than sweets made with animal products. Thank you for the recipe.
Oh my goodness!! This is lovely 🙂 Making me tear up! Thank you so much for making and sharing this with your family!!
This cake is delicious! wow. I used both salted vegan butter and salted pistachios, because that’s what I had, but it was not too salty surprisingly, very balanced and addictive.
The frosting did come out runny for me though, added more powdered sugar which helped but made it too sweet. Some tips for getting frosting fluffy like yours would be beneficial!
Thanks for the recipe!
So happy to hear this!! That’s wonderful!! And yes, for the frosting, it’s usually an issue of letting the butter come too much to room temperature! It should still be cold to the touch but able to be indented. Also always wait to add any df milk for consistency until after the powdered sugar is incorporated and only add it by the tbsp! That can help 🙂
If these were made into cupcakes would the cook time be the same?
Yes absolutely! It will bake differently- about 18-22 minutes for the cupcakes, but check how they’re doing around the 15 minute mark by turning on the oven light!
Great thank you!
Hi there! I don’t have vegan cream cheese where I live… any suggestions for a substitute
Hi Ashleigh! Yes, you can use my homemade vegan cream cheese recipe, found here! Enjoy 🙂
Made this for my friend’s engagement party and it was absolutely delicious!
Oh my goodness meeee ladies and gents…this was absolutely beautiful! Everyone I shared it with loved it xoxoxo
LOVED this recipe and will make it again! the pistachio butter was also very easy to make…couldn’t find it at the time. I look forward to baking this cake again! thank you for sharing!
That’s so wonderful!! So glad you enjoyed 🙂 Thank you for the review!!
Is this recipe only good as a sheet cake or can it be turned into a layered cake by simply doubling the recipe?
I LOVE all your recipes, BTW!
You can absolutely use this as a layer cake! This will make 2 large 8″ cake layers- or three thinner 8″ cake layers!
I made the gluten free version and it was absolutely perfect! I needed to add an additional half cup of powdered sugar and the buttercream was still runny but delicious anyway!
Cake is really yummy! Its going to surprise your guests.
However for me it wasn’t an easy cake. you have to peel a lot of pistachios!! So buy them peeled! :p
In the creme I added some vegan whipcream to give it some lighter feeling.
Then for me the cake was not moist but really dense. What did I do wrong here?
Can you replace the sugar?
I will keep it another try.
from the Netherlands:)
Hi Maud! Oh sure! You used the metric measurements, correct? I know most people not in the US use metric, which makes ruling out any issues a lot easier, so that’s good! For a lighter texture, you may have a) over mixed or b) used ingredients that weren’t at full room temperature. That would create an issue for the leavening agents to create the rise and fluffiness in texture!
I made this for my birthday and it was divine! One of the best cakes I’ve ever had, my non-vegan bf loved it too! I can’t wait to share it with my friends for them to enjoy as well. I even added strawberry jam on and that was delicious as well. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
I made this for my birthday and it was divine! One of the best cakes I’ve ever had, my non-vegan bf loved it too! I can’t wait to share it with my friends for them to enjoy as well. I even added strawberry jam on and that was delicious as well. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Mine didn’t rise at all! Was aerated when mixing then fell flat. Not new to baking and no it’s not the recipe. Suggestions? Read about temp and not overmixing. Frustrated
Hmm sometimes it’s the baking powder to be honest- is it a fresh baking powder or very old?
why do ppl always assume its the BP. not it wasnt BP.. made a strawberry cake last week and it turned out great
Oh it wasn’t an assumption! I’ve just had that happen to me a lot, living in FLorida- my baking powder goes bad a lot quicker here, and sometimes I will bake the same recipe in a day with a different, new baking powder, and it’s a vastly different result. Sometimes it can happen from over mixing too. I was just trying to help problem solve!
This cake is extremely delicious! I made it for Easter and it was a big hit. I always know that I can count on your recipes to be excellent. Thank you!
My sister requires vegan, gluten free & refined sugar free recipes. Is there a sugar replacement that will work with this recipe? Would maple syrup work?
Hi Barb! Unfortunately, maple syrup WON’T work as I’ve tested it in other cakes that are similar without success. You can use a granulated maple sugar or coconut sugar, and that will work well, but steer clear of date sugar, as that’s tricky!
Howdy, your recipes look so amazing! im vegan and don’t do sugar, are there any alternatives in your opinion? thank you😉
Hi Luda! Aw thank you! So you can use coconut sugar or maple sugar here- that will work great! I wouldn’t recommend swapping in maple syrup nor date sugar as that will yield a gummy texture. I hope that helps! Enjoy!
Hey, I’d love to make this for Mother’s Day coming up and was wondering how it should be stored and would it still be good if I made it a day in advance? Thank You!
Absolutely! You can bake it the day before and either frost it that same day, refrigerating overnight, or you can store the baked cake at room temperature and then frost it the next day 🙂 Enjoy!
Oh my goodness I’m so happy to hear this!! That’s so wonderful 🙂 Which gluten-free flour did you use? I’m sure other readers would love to know! Also love the combination of half almonds and half pistachios- YUM! Thanks so much for the wonderful review and enjoy!
I always do my own gluten-free flour mix, which contains 290 grams of white rice flour, 120 grams of potato starch, and 115 grams of tapioca starch + 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum! And yes the almond and pistachio combo was amazing, thanks again! ☺️🥰
Hello, how much salt would you add if you have unsalted pistachios? Thank you in advance. Making this for a friends baby Shower and super excited!
1 tsp of salt then! Enjoy!!
Thank you for the prompt reply! Also making your brownies!!
Hi! Can i use almond flour instead of all purpose flour, and can i use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Hi Sarah! Unfortunately, almond flour won’t work here, but you can use coconut oil instead of vegan butter. Just keep in mind, it’ll have a coconut flavor!