Our pistachio pie cups stand out as the best on the internet due to their perfect balance of sweetness and nuttiness, combined with how delicious they actually look.
The recipe is user-friendly and turns out consistently delectable results, making it a unique and irresistible cream cheese dessert. With a buttery crust and creamy pistachio filling, these pie cups offer a delightful twist on the traditional pie.
This pistachio pie cup recipe is made with instant pistachio pudding and is our team’s favorite dessert on The Cheese Knees.
What is in Pistachio Pie Cups?
Pistachio Pie Cups compromised a crisp, buttery graham cracker crust, filled with a creamy and rich pistachio filling.
The crust is a simple mix of graham crackers and butter, while the filling combines cream cheese, pudding mix, and milk. The pie cups are then topped off with whipped cream and chopped pistachios for a crunchy finish.
Instant
Pistachio Pudding
The pistachio flavor in these cups comes from instant pistachio pie pudding, yum!
Tips for the Graham Cracker Crust
There are a few things to keep in mind so that you end up with the perfect graham cracker consistency —>
- Make sure you use cold or room-temperature butter. NOT melted butter. Using cold or room-temperature butter helps to create a crumble, not a paste!
- When you are processing the ingredients for the graham cracker crust in the food processor, be sure to pulse the ingredients together rather than letting it run on high! You want to have control over the consistency of the crumble.
- When you add two tablespoons of graham cracker crumble to the muffin tins, be sure to firmly push the crust down with the back of the tablespoon to ensure that the crust will bake correctly!
- Don’t forget, you bake the graham cracker crust before you put the pistachio pie filling into the muffin liners!
Variations + Substitutions
If you can’t find pistachio pudding, use vanilla pudding mix and fold crushed pistachios into the filling.
If you’d like to experiment with variations, consider swapping the pistachios with almonds or pecans.
Those with a sweet tooth can drizzle some chocolate or caramel sauce on top. For a dairy-free option, substitute the cream cheese and whipped topping with non-dairy alternatives.
Featured Comment
“Delicious light and fluffy dessert treat! Easy to follow recipe and not many ingredients needed which is nice..” –Hannah
How to soften cream cheese
Looking for a quick method to soften cream cheese? Check out our post – How to Soften Cream Cheese – 4 Ways! Here you’ll learn 4 unique (and quick!) methods to soften cream cheese to the perfect amount for baking and cooking.
Storage Instructions
These pistachio pie cups will last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator when stored in an air-tight container.
Please note that the graham cracker crust will be at its crispiest on the day these pistachio pie cups are made. They will get a bit soggy every day that they are stored.
buy these to make things easier
We recommend using muffin liners for this recipe! The muffin liners help to keep the shape of the pistachio pie cups and make them easier to store and serve.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these easy pistachio cups with other finger food desserts like our homemade almond joys, mini cheesecake bites, and lemon ricotta cookies.
Pistacchio Pie Cups
Ingredients
Crust
- 9 graham crackers full sheets
- 4 tablespoons cold butter
Filling
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 3.4 oz. Jell-O Instant Pistachio Pudding and Pie Filling
- 1.5 cups 1% milk
Optional Toppings
- 1 cup whipped cream
- ⅓ cup crushed pistachios
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a muffin tin with muffin liners. Generously spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Next, prepare graham cracker crust. Place graham crackers and butter into a high-speed food processor. Process on high until the mixture forms a crumble.
- Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the graham cracker crumble into each muffin cup. You should have enough crust to make 12 mini cheesecakes. Use a spoon to press the crumble down into the pan.
- Bake graham cracker crust for 10 minutes at 350ºF. Remove the crust from the oven and let them cool completely.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the pistachio filling. Place softened cream cheese into a large bowl of a standing mixer (you can also use a handheld mixer) and mix on high until the cream cheese is whipped and soft. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times during this process.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly pour the milk into the mixer until the milk and cream cheese are combined.
- Add the pistachio Jell-O packet to the bowl and mix on low until combined and the mixture begins to thicken.
- Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and use a spatula to make sure all ingredients are combined together. Sometimes the pistachio pudding will stick to the bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Finally, scoop two heaping tablespoons of the pistachio mixture into each graham cracker cup and spread it out with the bottom of a spoon (sometimes it helps to wet the spoon when you’re trying to spread the pistachio mixture out evenly) . Repeat until all cups are full.
- Place the cups into the refrigerator to set for at least 1 hour (sometimes the longer the better).
- Remove from the refrigerator and top each pistachio cup with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle the whipped cream with chopped pistachios.
Delicious light and fluffy dessert treat! Easy to follow recipe and not many ingredients needed which is nice.
So glad you loved these cute desserts as much as we do! 🙂