This Pistachio Cheesecake Recipe features a delicious Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust, with a creamy Pistachio Cheesecake filling, topped with Pistachio Ganache. It has the perfect balance between the nutty flavor and a rich and creamy texture.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cheesecake, pistachio
Prep Time 1 hourhour
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Resting plus chilling time 7 hourshours
Total Time 9 hourshours
Servings 12servings
Calories 330kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust
180gramsgraham crackersabout 12 full crackers
1/2cuppistachio nuts62.5 grams
3tbspgranulated sugar37 grams
6tbspunsalted buttermelted (85 grams)
Pistachio Paste
2cupshelled pistachios*250 grams
4tbspwateror more as needed
Pistachio Cheesecake Batter
907gramscream cheesesoftened (4 packages of 8 oz.)
1 1/4cupgranulated sugar250 grams
1/2cupsour creamroom temp
1cuppistachio paste
1/4tspalmond extract
1tbspvanilla extract
4large eggsroom temperature
Pistachio Ganache
120gramswhite chocolatescant 3/4 cup chopped chocolate
60mlheavy cream1/4 cup
3tbsppistachio paste45 grams
Instructions
Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust
Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
Place the graham crackers and the pistachios in a food processor and process to obtain fine crumbs.
In a bowl, mix together the graham crackers and pistachio crumbs with sugar and melted butter.
Press the mixture on the bottom of an 8” or 9” cheesecake pan. If using an 8” pan, it must be deep.
Bake the crust in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove it from the oven and let it cool down.
Pistachio Paste
Start by skinning the pistachios if you want to obtain a green paste. If you don’t care about the paste being bright green, skip this step and move on to step 8.
Bring a pot with 1 quart of water to a boil.
Once it starts to boil, add the pistachios to the water. Turn the water off the heat, and let the pistachios soak in the boiling water for 1 minute.
Drain the pistachios onto a sheet or plate lined with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
Spread the pistachios on top of the towel, and rub them gently to help peel the skin.
Then you might have to individually continue to peel the skins off the pistachios. This can take about 20 or 30 minutes.
Discard the skins.
Place the pistachios in a food processor or blender.
Process for a couple of minutes.
Add one tablespoon of water at a time, processing in between, until you find a smooth consistency. For me, 3 tablespoons did the trick, you might need less, or maybe a bit more.
Add water just as necessary to obtain a smooth paste.
Scrape it into a bowl and it’s ready to be used.
You will need 1 cup of the paste for the cheesecake batter, save the rest for the ganache topping.
Pistachio Cheesecake Batter
Beat the cream cheese for 3 minutes with a mixer at medium speed, until creamy.
Add the pistachio paste, granulated sugar, and sour cream to the cream cheese and beat for another 2 minutes at medium speed.
Scrape the bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.
Add the almond and vanilla extract, and mix.
Make sure to scrape the bowl a few times during the mixing process, to avoid the cream cheese from forming lumps in the batter.
Add the eggs to the batter, mix just until combined. It’s best to add one egg at a time, waiting for one egg to be incorporated before adding the next one.
Avoid over mixing once the eggs are added, to prevent cracking of the cheesecake.
Pour the cheesecake in the pan, over the baked and cooled crust. Some cheesecake pans, such as my own, require the sides to be greased before adding the batter in, or the cheesecake sticks, so I always spray the sides of my pan with oil before pouring the cheesecake batter in.
Wrap the bottom of the pan with a few layers of foil.
Place the pan in a larger roasting pan, and add hot water to the roasting pan, to form a water bath. This is very important so the cheesecake doesn’t crack.
Bake the cheesecake in the pre-heated 325ºF oven for 60 to 70 minutes.
To check if the cheesecake is done baking, give the pan a little wiggle, it should jiggle slightly in the center, but the edges should look set.
Turn the oven off, and leave the cheesecake in there for 1 hour.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven and place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
Pistachio Ganache
Mix the heavy cream and pistachio paste together.
Heat up the mixture until 175ºF, or until very hot in the microwave, before it comes to a boil.
Pour the cream into the white chocolate through a strainer, to retain any bits of pistachio nuts in order to obtain a smooth ganache. Squeeze the mixture well to ensure only the bits of nuts are being retained by the strainer. Mix with a whisk until the chocolate melts entirely.
Let the ganache cool down at room temperature for about 2-3 hours, or place it in the fridge. If you place it in the fridge it should take about 1 hour to thicken, make sure to give it a stir every 10 minutes or so.
You can leave the ganache in the fridge for longer or make it ahead, if the ganache gets too hard, let it sit at room temperature until it softens up.
To decorate
Spread the thickened ganache on top of the cheesecake. Use an offset spatula to smooth it out.
I sifted some ground pistachio nuts all over the cheesecake.
Sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts around the edges of the cheesecake.
Storage
Store the cheesecake in the fridge for up to 5 days, in a sealed container. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month.
To freeze
Place the whole cheesecake, or slices of it in the freezer for 1 hour, or until the cheesecake is frozen solid at least on the outside. Wrap it in plastic wrap, doing a few layers will be better. Then find a large bag if freezing the whole cheesecake, or place the slices in an air-tight container.
Notes
Pistachios: When making the pistachio paste, if you want to skin the pistachios, which means remove their skin to obtain green pistachios and a super green paste, make sure to use shelled pistachios, or raw pistachios. It can be very difficult to find raw pistachios, so the best option is to use shelled roasted pistachios. They can be salted, it doesn’t matter. If you buy the pistachios that already come out of the shell, it will be impossible to remove their brown skin. If you don’t care about the paste being super green, you can use whatever kind of pistachios you want to make the paste.Almond extract: It helps bring out the pistachio taste, but can be left out.Ganache: make sure to use good quality white chocolate to make the ganache. It must have over 20% cocoa butter. It’s best to use brands such as Callebaut if you are using chips, or get the baking white chocolate bars at the store. Stay away from nestle, Ghirardelli white chips. The bars should be fine, so you can chop them and use in the ganache.