brunch/loaves/sweets

Flourless Pistachio Almond Loaf

Posted January 17, 2016 by Stephanie
gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

I made this little loaf last week, on a whim. I was feeling a loaf craving and wanted something moist and just a little bit dense. Basically, I wanted the opposite of light and airy. I wanted a loaf with substance and pistachios. I was going to riff off of my almond lemon loaf but I didn’t know if adding pistachios would do bad things to the texture so I did a quick little google search and found this gem of a recipe.

gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

Usually I don’t blog while people are over, but the day that I decided to make this loaf, we had invited over our bestie for pizza night. I was in the middle of blogging when he arrived, but since I’ve fed him blog food before –food that’s kind of sort of had time to let’s say, cool off, due to photo-taking– he’s pretty cool with the whole routine. And since he was over I took advantage of the fact that Mike would pretty much say yes to anything I asked.

gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

I asked for an absurdly large amount of pizza (I like leftover pizza maybe even more than fresh?) and some action shots. Action shots are a funny thing. Sometimes I manage to take them by myself; usually you can tell if you see my left hand awkwardly trying to do something. Sometimes I even manage to get out the tripod so I get some good ones. But normally, I ask Mike to take the shots for me.

gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

Taking action shots with someone else (heck, even with yourself) takes a good amount of coordination. So there we were, me all set up, our friend sitting on the counter watching the whole thing, and Mike ready with the camera. I wanted to get a shot the egg falling into the bowl. At first Mike told me to count down, but I thought it would be better if he did. I actually have a horrible sense of timing, so I prematurely cracked the egg on the count of 2. We ended up laughing hysterically for a good five minutes and I wish someone had filmed the whole thing because you just had to be there. Speaking of filming, on a side note, if you guys are interested in behind the scenes stuff or just wacky snaps of me doing random things, follow me on snapchat, username iamafoodblog.

gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

Photo antics aside, this little loaf is perfect for snacking on during tea time or for a little pre-brunch snack. Yes, sometimes I pre-brunch: it helps if when I’m going to one of those super buzzy places that have a long line up, or if I’m planning on making something a little more involved. Moist, slightly dense and full of nutty flavors, this little guy is super satisfying, especially next to a matcha latte.

Hope you guys have a happy Sunday! And I absolutely hope there’s brunch (and a little pre-brunch action) involved!

gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

Gluten Free Pistachio Almond Loaf Recipe slightly adapted from Donna Hay via Milk and Honey
makes 1 small loaf (I used an odd sized 7 x 2 loaf pan, this pan should work)


  • 1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 6 tablespoons (82.5 g)  super fine sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon lime zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup (90 g) ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup (65 g) ground pistachios

Preheat the oven to 320F. Grease and line a small loaf pan with parchment paper and set side.

With the paddle attachment, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, lime zest and vanilla until pale and creamy, about 10 – 12 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and incorporate the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat for another 3-4 minutes. Gently fold in the ground almonds and pistachios with a spatula.

Spoon the batter (it is pretty thick) into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre only has a couple of moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely in the pan at room temperature before slicing. Enjoy!

It’s Sunday! You know what that means: it’s time for Sunday Brunch. Why don’t you skip the line and make brunch at home this week? The coffee’s truly bottomless, the booze doesn’t have a crazy markup and you can chill out in your pajamas. Every Sunday I’ll post a brunch recipe. Soon you won’t be asking, where should we go for brunch – instead it’ll be, what should we make for brunch today?
gluten free pistachio almond loaf - www.iamafoodblog.com

26 Comments

  1. good thing there’s 2 eggs in this recipe so you had the chance to try again! (; and i love the sound of pistachio and almond together- even more toasty/nutty goodness!

  2. Stefanie says:

    Love the dense crumb of this cake! And anything with pistachio is golden in my book :) I’ve never succeeded at a motion shot – I’ve tried holding a timer in one hand while sprinkling flour with the other and it always turns out ridiculous. That sugar motion shot is absolutely beautiful.

  3. That looks scrumptious! Looks like it has a lovely dense texture…those kinds of loaves are the best :)

  4. That pic of the sugar raining down over mixer…. so good!!!!

  5. I love this little loaf! Pistachios add such a good flavor to things and it looks so bright and sunny :) Also, I agree. Action shots are so awkward and hard! But yours look great!

  6. feed me food blog food!! i will photograph your egg cracking!! love this “MOIST” looking cake! hehe… no it really DOES look moist and sounds so delish! for some reason i’m sensing a nice dollop of tangy full fat yogurt on top would be so good. or ice cream… xo

  7. Morgan says:

    Hi Stephanie – This recipe looks amazing. The action shots are SO SEXY. I absolutely love your blog and the gorgeous photos you share with us.

    I’m thinking of making this loaf over the weekend and was wondering what size a “small loaf pan” is? Could you please provide dimensions? Thank you so much!

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      hi morgan,
      i used a 2x2x6, which is why the loaf is kind of tall. any mini loaf pan would work (around 5″x3″x2″). hope that helps

  8. Looks so tasty. I think I might have to try making this. The “flourless” is new in my baking world, but you made it look easy.

  9. Morgan says:

    Thanks Stephanie! I love the pan you used – hopefully I can find on like it one day. Until then, can’t wait to bake it in my small loaf pan this weekend. Cheers!

  10. Maria says:

    Hi, absolutely love your blog, keep coming back to it for photos and recipes. When you say ground pistachios, do you buy them already ground, or do you grind them yourself? and by super fine sugar, would any other sweetener work? we’ve thrown out all the white sugar in the house !

  11. Missy says:

    2 quick questions for you. Any chance a touch of salt needs to be added to this? Are the ground almonds and ground pistachios salted or unsalted?

    Thanks!

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      there wasn’t any salt in the original recipe and i didn’t miss it, but if you added in a pinch, i think it would heighten the sweetness a bit! hope that helps :)

  12. Sharnie says:

    Hi! For the vanilla, is it extract or essence? :D

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      hi sharnie, it’s extract!

  13. Kris says:

    Hi there, when I tried this, the center was wet and greasy (but the outside was fine) for the entire loaf. How long do you leave the butter out for at room temperature?

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      hi kris,
      it needs to be soft, about 7-10 minutes. when you press it, it should have some give, but still kind of hold it’s shape.
      what size pan did you use?

  14. Cheri says:

    I don’t have any mini loaf pans, could I use a regular pan or muffin pans?

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      hi cheri,

      you can double the recipe to make it in a regular loaf pan. i haven’t tried muffin tins but i think it would work, you’d just have to adjust the baking time. i start checking at the 30 minute mark and check every two minutes after that!

  15. Sumika says:

    Hi! Love but loaf!!
    Ok, but I’m not going to buy mini loaf just for this occasion… Do u think tripling the recipe or something would work with regular loaf pan? Or will it completely throw the recipe off??

    1. Stephanie Le says:

      if you double it, it should work fine in a regular loaf pan! it might not rise as high because the dimensions of my pan are narrow, but it’ll taste lovely!

  16. Sumika says:

    Incase my question didn’t go thru… Can I make this in a regular loaf pan by tripling the recipe?

  17. Kristin says:

    I made this recipe and it was delicious! I doubled the ingredients and then used a standard loaf pan, and it turned out great. It was moist and dense, but crumbly at the same time. I didn’t pulse my pistachios all the way and loved the chunks of nut in the loaf. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!

  18. P says:

    If I do not have access to ground pistachios, can I just use 1 and 1/4 cup almond flour?

    Thank you

    1. Stephanie says:

      hi,
      yes, it’ll just have a different flavor profile :) hope you love it!

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