White Chocolate Peppermint Pistachio Bars are a delicious hand-held treat to make during the holiday season!
These blondie-type bars are flavored with peppermint extract. There are white chocolate chips and chopped pistachios mixed in. And some crushed candy canes are added in too for a festive look and more peppermint flavor. Push the Christmas cookie recipes aside for now and bake these White Chocolate Peppermint Pistachio Bars instead!
Ingredient notes on White Chocolate Peppermint Pistachio Bars:
- Make sure you use peppermint extract. I once accidentally used spearmint extract for a peppermint-flavored recipe, and my dessert turned out tasting much like toothpaste. True story!
- The combination of shortening and butter is important. You can definitely use all butter in the recipe if you don’t won’t to use shortening, but the result will be a little different. Shortening helps the bars rise a little higher and keep their shape, and the texture will be a little lighter than using all butter.
Substitution suggestions:
- Pistachios may be substituted with another kind of nut, if you’d like. Try using almonds, walnuts or pecans.
- Chopped white chocolate may be substituted for the chocolate chips.
- Chopped Candy Cane Kisses may be substituted for the crushed candy canes.
- To get rid of the “peppermint” element in these bars, use vanilla extract in place of peppermint. And it’s okay to leave out the candy canes. Then you’ll end up with White Chocolate Pistachio Bars instead.
How to store these bars:
After baking, cut the bars and store them in a covered container for up to 3 days. If you would like to store them in the freezer, store them in a well-sealed container for up to 2 months.
These White Chocolate Peppermint Pistachio Bars are a nice treat to bake for the holidays. It’s a great recipe to make for using up candy canes that you might have lying around your house. Enjoy!
Here are a few more recipes for bars you might like to try:
- Gingerbread Bars
- Cranberry Coconut Bars
- Nutella Shortbread Bars
- Royal Chocolate Marshmallow Bars
- Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Caramel Pecan Bars with Chocolate Drizzle
- Twix Bars
- Cranberry Bliss Bars
White Chocolate Peppermint Pistachio Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup coarsely crushed candy canes (or peppermint candies)
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the sugar, shortening and butter beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, baking soda and peppermint extract and mix until well blended. Mix in the flour. Then stir in the white chocolate chips, crushed candy canes and pistachios. Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool to room temperature; cut into bars.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
