Pecan Pie Muffins
Pecan Pie Muffins are a tasty new way to enjoy a classic dessert. These moist, tender muffins are full of sweet pecan pie flavor, and they’re so easy to make, too!
Whether we want a sweet breakfast, afternoon snack, or a fun-sized holiday dessert, we always love making these muffins. They combine the hand-held sensibilities of muffins with the sweet, nutty flavor of pecan pie, making them ideal for almost any meal or occasion!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: It only takes seven basic ingredients to make these muffins.
- Easy: It only takes 15 minutes of prep and 25 minutes in the oven to make!
- Classic Flavor: These muffins are full of classic pecan pie flavor.
- Versatile: This makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert.
🛒Ingredients
You’ll only need a few basic baking ingredients to make these muffins. We’ve listed them all here, but you can find their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Halved pecans
- Light brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter – softened
- Vanilla extract
- Large eggs
- Salt
🔪 How to Make Pecan Pie Muffins
Making these muffins couldn’t be easier. It takes just a few minutes of prep, and then you bake them. That’s all there is to it!
Step 1: Toast the Pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the pecans out evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly darkened.
Step 2: Chop the Pecans
Remove the pecans from the oven and roughly chop them into small pieces. Set aside 1/4 cup.
Step 3: Combine the Eggs and Butter
Beat the eggs on low speed for a minute. Then, add the softened butter and beat until combined, scraping down the bowl if needed.
Step 4: Combine the Remaining Ingredients
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the chopped pecans, flour, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt, mixing with a wooden or rubber spatula until combined.
Step 5: Make the Batter
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix on medium speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
Step 6: Bake
Line a muffin tin with muffin cups or generously butter it. Then, divide the batter evenly between 12 muffin cups, sprinkle them with the reserved pecans, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and mostly firm to the touch.
Step 7: Cool
Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Remove them from the pan and enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Gluten-Free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour to make gluten-free muffins.
- Salted Butter: If you don’t have unsalted butter, use salted instead, and omit the salt in the recipe.
- Dairy-Free: Use plant-based butter for a dairy-free version.
If you think these muffins look good, then check out our banana coconut muffins.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer
- Muffin tin
🥫 Storage
Store these muffins at room temperature in a covered container for up to 4 days. For longer storage, wrap the muffins in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 2 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
What to Serve with Pecan Pie Muffins
These delicious muffins are perfect as a sweet breakfast or snack with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. You can also serve them as part of a larger sweet and savory breakfast with your favorites like bacon, eggs, and sausage.
💭 Tips
- Be sure to mix the muffin batter until just combined. Overmixing can make tough muffins.
- The pecans are toasted when they’re slightly darkened. Don’t overdo it, or they’ll develop a rancid, burned flavor.
- It’s important to use unsalted butter. Salted butter will give the muffins an overly salty flavor.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Just combined is a baking term that means the wet and dry ingredients have been mixed until all the dry ingredients are moistened, but the batter isn’t smooth. The batter will have lumps, but not visibly dry portions.
Overmixing batters with wheat flour creates a protein called gluten. Gluten contracts as it cooks, making baked goods tough.
Dry muffins are usually the result of using too much flour. Be careful to measure your flour correctly to avoid dry muffins.
Never scoop your flour out directly with your measuring cup. This compacts the flour, and you’ll use too much. Instead, loosely spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy pecan pie? Then try these delicious variations.
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe so you can find it later.
Pecan Pie Muffins
Equipment
- baking sheet
- Electric mixer
- large bowl
- medium bowl
- muffin pan
- Ice cream scoop
- cupcake liners
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup halved pecans
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the pecans evenly on a baking sheet.
- Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly darkened.
- While the pecans are baking, add the eggs to a mixing bowl.
- Beat on low speed with a stand mixer or hand mixer for 1 minute.
- Add the softened butter to the bowl and continue beating until combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
- Remove the pecans from the oven and roughly chop them into small pieces.
- Set aside ¼ cup for later.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the chopped pecans, flour, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Using a wooden or rubber spatula, mix until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix on medium speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Line a muffin pan with muffin cups or generously butter the sides of the pan.
- Scoop the batter into each muffin cup, filling them almost to the top.
- Sprinkle the reserved pecans on top of each muffin.
- Using the set aside pecans, sprinkle on top of each muffin.
- Place the muffin pan in the 350°F preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the muffins are mostly firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.
- Enjoy!
