These pistachio white chocolate donuts with rosewater glaze have a wonderful Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavor. They are light with an airy texture, and the glaze is heavenly. The pistachios provide a nice crunch, white chocolate adds a creamy flavor, while the rosewater brings a fresh, spring aroma. And the best part is they need under 1 hour to prepare, bake, and glaze! The perfect dessert to make on a weekday evening, in my opinion.
Before making the batter you need to roast the pistachios. If you wish to save some time, you can buy already-roasted pistachios. Just make sure they are unsalted. I chose to use raw pistachios and roast them right before making the batter because I find the taste is stronger this way.
Make sure the roasted pistachios and white chocolate are very finely chopped before incorporating them into the batter. Otherwise they may sink to the bottom and won’t be evenly dispersed.
This batter also calls for a little bit of cream. It is important you use it because it helps the donuts come out moist. The finely chopped pistachios can have a drying effect.
If you don’t have rosewater in the baking aisle of your grocery store, look for it in grocery stores that carry European or Middle Eastern products. Additionally it is also very easy to find online.
However, rosewater can be quite strong in flavor and some people don’t like it. If you are one of them, you can replace it with jasmine flower water, orange petal water, or aloe water.
Make the glaze right before decorating the donuts, otherwise it will harden and become unusable. Also make sure to glaze the donuts soon after they cool to room temperature. The glaze will create a moisture-resistant barrier that will prevent them from drying.
See more donut recipes here.
And finally, here’s the recipe for the pistachio white chocolate donuts with rosewater glaze:
Pistachio White Chocolate Donuts with Rosewater Glaze
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- 30 g (1 oz.) unsalted raw pistachios
- 30 g (1 oz.) white chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pan
For the glaze:
- 1 ¾ cups (200 g/ 7 oz.) icing sugar
- 1 tsp rosewater extract
- 2-3 tbsp. hot water
Optional:
- rose petals for decoration
Instructions
Roasting the pistachios:
- Turn on the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Place pistachios on parchment paper in a baking pan. Roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Let them sit at room temperature until cooled down, then chop them finely.
For the batter:
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) if you turned it off after the previous step.
- Gently melt the butter over low temperature. Make sure the butter does not bubble. Once melted, set it aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Sift the flour into a bowl, add the baking powder and mix.
- Crack the eggs into another bowl, add the sugar and beat at high speed with an electric mixer. The mixture is ready when almost triple in volume and light in color. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cream, melted cooled butter, and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the flour mix to the wet ingredients step by step. Mix with a spatula until incorporated. Add the pistachios and chocolate, and mix. Let the batter sit 2-3 minutes at room temperature.
- Grease the donut pan with room temperature butter. Pipe the batter filling ¾ of each cavity. Bake for 10 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F), or until donuts spring back when gently pressed.
- Once baked, take the donuts out of the oven and allow them to cool in the donut pan 2-3 minutes at room temperature. Transfer them to a rack and let them sit until completely cooled.
For the glaze:
- In one bowl mix icing sugar, rosewater extract and hot water. Mix until sugar is well dissolved and glaze is creamy. If the glaze is too thick, add one more tbsp. hot water.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze.
Optional:
- Decorate the donuts with rose petals.
