Spring is finally here! Every year I celebrate the arrival of Spring. Probably even more than the average person. Why? Because I'm telling you, my body was just not cut out for cold weather. No sir. And I think we can all agree that this past Winter just seemed particularly brutal for everyone around the country. I got so sick of seeing the color white, I swore to my mother that it just might influence me to never even buy my future wedding dress in a white color. We had the most snow and/or ice days here than we've ever had as long as I've been alive. Those poor kids are going to be making up missed school days for a long time. Might even take up half of their summer!
The point is, Mother Nature sure as hell took her time on scheduling the Spring weather to finally arrive. And now that Spring has officially started, I know those of us here in Northwest Arkansas can finally breathe a sigh of relief (or perhaps it should be breathe IN the smell of the new flowers in bloom?...) that Spring weather has decided to make an appearance with it. The daffodils are in bloom, the ground is finally a different color most of the time other than white, and people just seem overall more cheerful in their demeanor.
With the arrival of Spring, I felt the need to celebrate with creating this Spring Green Pistachio Cake. I wasn't sure to call it a cake or a bread, but the consistency did seem just a bit more cake-like. Plus I didn't know what exactly to call a cake/bread hybrid other than a "break" and that just didn't seem right.
This cake is super simple to make. You just mix all the ingredients in one bowl, put it in a prepared bread pan and bake! I decided to chop the pistachios in a food processor because I liked them ground more finely into tiny pieces. You could chop them if you prefer bigger chunks of pistachios in your cake.
Spring Green Pistachio Cake
Ingredients:
1 yellow box cake mix ( oz.)
1 box sugar-free, fat-free pistachio pudding mix (1 oz.)
1/2 cup egg beaters (or 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup unsweet applesauce
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or whatever milk you have)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 chopped, salted pistachios
3-4 drops green food coloring
Directions:
Pulse the salted pistachios in a food processor. I pulsed them into more of a powder than actual chunks of nuts, but it's your personal preference.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8.5 x 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 inch loaf bread pan. I used melted coconut oil to grease the pan.
1 yellow box cake mix ( oz.)
1 box sugar-free, fat-free pistachio pudding mix (1 oz.)
1/2 cup egg beaters (or 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup unsweet applesauce
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup vanilla greek yogurt
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or whatever milk you have)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 chopped, salted pistachios
3-4 drops green food coloring
Directions:
Pulse the salted pistachios in a food processor. I pulsed them into more of a powder than actual chunks of nuts, but it's your personal preference.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8.5 x 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 inch loaf bread pan. I used melted coconut oil to grease the pan.
Put all ingredients into a large bowl. Using a hand beater or stand mixer, blend until all the ingredients are just well incorporated together. Pour the mixture into the prepared bread pan and bake in oven for 38-42 minutes. Allow the bread to cool for at least 10 minutes before taking out of pan to continue cooling. Slice, eat, and enjoy!
Healthy Recipe Tidbits
- I used the sugar-free, fat-free pistachio pudding mix vs. the regular to cut back on calories, fat, and sugar
- Most cake mixes use oil while this cake uses healthy substitutes like the unsweet applesauce, sour cream, and greek yogurt to replace the oil and still produce a very moist and flavorful cake.
- I used reduced fat sour cream vs. regular sour cream to cut back on fat
- I used vanilla greek yogurt to add moistness and flavor to the cake
- There is no added sugar to this cake and you could even make the whole cake very diabetic friendly by using a sugar-free box cake mix or using your own homemade cake mix.
- Pistachios are very nutrient rich. They contain fewer calories and more potassium and Vitamin K per serving than other nuts. A 1 oz. serving of dry roasted pistachios contains only 160 calories with 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
