Pistachio Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Instructions

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1. - Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. - Pulse 1/2 cup of the pistachios in a food processor until finely chopped (not completely ground) with visible chunks of the nuts. Set aside.
3. - Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. - Add the egg and beat on medium-high speed until combined.
5. - Add the Greek yogurt and pistachio extract and beat on medium-high speed until combined.
6. - Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a separate bowl. Stir in the reserved finely chopped pistachios.
7. - Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just combined.
8. - Add the milk and continue mixing on low speed until completely combined, but avoiding overmixing. The batter will be thick. Optional: If you'd like to enhance the green color of the batter, add a drop of green food coloring at this point.
9. - Distribute the batter into the cupcake liners in the prepared muffin pan, filling no more than 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out mostly dry with just a few moist crumbs.
10. - Cool cupcakes in the pan on a cooling grid for 5 minutes. Remove from pan to cool completely on the grid.
11. - While cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting. In a medium microwave-safe container, melt the white chocolate in the microwave at half (50%) power for 1 minute then stir. Microwave at 50% power in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is completely melted. Let cool slightly.
12. - Beat butter and salt with an electric or stand mixer on medium speed until smooth.
13. - Add vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
14. - Beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. When all the sugar has been mixed in the frosting will appear dry.
15. - Add cooled white chocolate and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
16. - Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using a decorating bag fitted with a large open star piping tip (such as 1M). Chop the remaining pistachios and sprinkle generously on top of the frosted cupcakes.