About This Homemade Version of the Starbucks Chocolate Pistachio Loaf
To develop this recipe, I studied the ingredient list and texture of the original Starbucks chocolate pistachio loaf. From what I can tell, these ingredients give the cake its unique soft and moist crumb:
- Cake Flour. Starbucks uses cake flour to make the loaf’s cake crumb incredibly tender and pillowy. Cake flour has less gluten than regular all-purpose flour and leads to softer, more delicate cakes.
- Oil. I saw that Starbucks used oil instead of butter to make their chocolate pistachio loaf cake. This makes sense since using oil in cake recipes helps keep its crumb moist and fresh for longer.
Personally, I also like using oil in cake recipes because it saves you time and energy in the kitchen. Most oil based cakes don’t require a stand mixer because there’s no need to cream butter and sugar together! Indeed, my recipe below just uses two bowls and a spatula to bring the cake together. - Chocolate. Starbucks uses both melted semisweet chocolate and Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the chocolate swirl of their loaf. I suspect they only use a small amount in order not to overpower the cake’s pistachio flavor.
With those ingredients in mind and multiple rounds of testing, I was able to reverse engineer the recipe. The result is a bakery-style loaf that’s easy enough for everyday baking but still captures everything people love about the coffee shop favorite!
Looking for more Starbucks copycat recipes? Check out this Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam (A Copycat Starbucks Recipe), one of the most popular recipes on Hummingbird High!
Ingredient Recommendations (Or What To Buy For An Exact Copycat)
If you want an exact replica of the Starbucks chocolate pistachio loaf cake at home, I recommend splurging on the following ingredients:
- Black Cocoa Powder. Starbucks’ loaf cake has a chocolate swirl that is a deep brown/almost black color (similar to the color of Oreos). You can only achieve this color with black cocoa powder, a Dutch cocoa powder that’s been treated with extra alkali to give it that signature midnight color. For my cake, I used King Arthur Baking Company’s Black Cocoa Powder.
That being said, I did a couple test runs with natural unsweetened cocoa powder and regular Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The cake still tasted great, it just didn’t look exactly like Starbucks’ loaf since the swirls came out lighter and reddish in color. - Cake Flour. Cake flour is the secret ingredient behind the light-as-air Starbucks chocolate pistachio loaf crumb. I used Swans Down Cake Flour to make my loaf cake, but in a pinch, you can make your own cake flour at home! Check out my post on How To Make Cake Flour.
- Pistachio Extract. This is the part of the recipe I took most creative liberties with. Starbucks is deliberately vague about what they use to flavor their loaf. In fact, people actually suspect they use almond extract instead of pistachio extract!
But since I love pistachio, I just committed to using pistachio extract for my loaf—specifically, Lorann Oils Pistachio Bakery Emulsion. I love it so much and have used it in other Hummingbird High recipes like these Bakery Style Pistachio Pudding Muffins and Pistachio Pudding Layer Cake.
How To Make The Recipe (With Photos To Guide You)
Making Chocolate and Pistachio Batter from One Base Batter
Layering The Cake Batters To Create The Cake’s Chocolate Swirls
Garnishing The Cake (And How To Get That Signature Loaf Cake Top)
My Final Recipe Tips (To Set You Up For Success)
- When studying Starbucks’ chocolate pistachio loaf cake, I noticed that their loaf cake slices were taller than the average home bakers. My guess is that they bake theirs in a 9 x 4-inch pullman loaf pan (which is also what I used for my recipe). You can use a regular 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, but your cake will come out shorter and squatter (similar to the slices in this Super Soft and Tender Lemon Yogurt Loaf).
- In my opinion, the easiest way to assemble the cake is to set the cake pan on a digital kitchen scale and weigh out the layers. I even included the exact weight you need for even layers in the recipe! But if you’re not as “Type A” as I am or if you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, you can just eyeball it. Your cake will still turn out beautifully!
- Don’t be scared by the loaf cake’s LONG Bake Time (my cake took around 1 hour and 30 minutes to fully bake). It contains a lot of fat and liquid to keep it moist. I recommend checking for doneness about 1 hour and 15 minutes into the Bake Time and playing it by ear. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
Get the Recipe: Starbucks Copycat Chocolate Pistachio Loaf
This homemade Starbucks Chocolate Pistachio Loaf copycat is soft, moist, and full of pistachio flavor with a rich chocolate swirl. Made with cake flour and oil, the batter comes together easily with just a bowl and a whisk—no stand mixer needed.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces (57 grams) dark chocolate (between 60% and 70% cacao), from whole fèves or a high-quality chocolate bar roughly chopped into 1- to 1 ½-inch pieces
- 1 Tablespoon black cocoa powder
- 1 ¾ cups (12.25 ounces or 347 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (8 ounces or 227 grams) canola oil
- ¾ cup (6 ounces or 170 grams) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 3 ⅓ cups (13.35 ounces or 378 grams) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pistachio extract
- green food coloring
- 1 Tablespoon (.5 ounces or 14 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into a 1.5-inch square
- 1 Tablespoon raw shelled pistachios
Equipment
- a (9 x 4-inch) pullman loaf pan
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven and prep the pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.Spray a 9 x 5-inch pullman loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Spray the parchment, too.
- Melt the chocolate and cocoa powder. Place the chocolate and cocoa powder in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan filled with a few inches of simmering water (be sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).Cook over medium heat, using a heatproof rubber spatula to stir the mixture and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally, until the chocolate and cocoa powder have melted and combined, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan or bowl from heat, set on a wire rack, and let the chocolate mixture cool slightly while you prep the other ingredients.
- Whisk the sugar, eggs, oil, and buttermilk, then add the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs, whisking the eggs in one at a time until combined. Slowly pour in the oil while whisking continuously, then the buttermilk, also whisking continuously. Whisk until just combined.Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixture and mix until just combined—at this point, don't worry if the batter is lumpy! You'll continue to whisk the batter with other ingredients.
- Make the chocolate batter. Pour about ⅓ of the mixture (around 15 ounces or 425 grams) into the bowl with melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Use a heatproof rubber spatula to mix the chocolate into the batter until just combined.
- Make the pistachio batter. Add the pistachio extract and a couple drops of green food coloring into the bowl with the remaining batter. Use another rubber spatula to mix the extract and food coloring into the batter until just combined.
- Assemble the loaf cake. Pour about ⅓ of the pistachio batter (around 10 ounces or 283 grams) into the prepared pan, using a spatula to scrape it into a thin layer if needed.Pour about ½ of the chocolate batter (around 8 ounces or 227 grams) on top of the pistachio batter, drizzling the chocolate batter so that it covers most of the pistachio batter.Pour another ⅓ of the pistachio batter (around 10 ounces or 283 grams) on top of the chocolate batter, again drizzling it so that it covers most of the previous layer.Pour the remaining ½ of the chocolate batter (around 8 ounces or 227 grams), again drizzling it so that it covers most of the previous layer.Finally, pour the remaining ⅓ of the pistachio batter (around 10 ounces or 283 grams), drizzling it so that it covers most of the previous layer.Use a butter knife to swirl the layers together.
Garnish the loaf cake. Cut the butter into long, thin strips, around 1-inch long and ⅛-inch thick (there's no need to be precise here; check out my reference photos section to see a visual). Place the butter strips on top of the loaf cake, lining them up lengthwise in the middle. Sprinkle the pistachios on top.- Bake the loaf cake. Set the loaf pan on a sheet pan and bake for 85 to 95 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf cake comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- Serve and store. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before slicing. Serve at room temperature, or reheat slices in a microwave or toaster oven.The chocolate pistachio loaf cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review in the form below. I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
