Pecan Pie Cupcakes

This recipe found me, yes I said found me, on Pinterest. I pinned them a couple months ago and decided tonight was the night. I figured if they were good, I would bring some to Thanksgiving and to share with my co-workers. And if they weren't....well...how could they not be?! 

The recipe was simple, just 5 ingredients and if you're like me you have already have them in the pantry. You can start off by pre-heating the oven to 350 and preparing the muffin tins. I used Baker's Joy Cooking Spray, but you can also grease and flour them individually. I usually take the easy way out.

  1 Cup Chopped Pecans
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar (I prefer baking with dark)
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Melted Butter

 

The next two ingredients I decided to add on my own.

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

 

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can dump all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix, no need to do it in stages and less mess.  After the mixture is blended you want to put about 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin tin. As a note the original recipe called for this to make 18-24 mini cupcakes, but I decided to go for 12 regular size. This way I eat 1 regular cupcake not 4 or 5 or 6 minis.

 

After filled I tapped them down on the counter to even the batter out before popping them in the oven for 16-18 minutes. Mine took 16, but when you see the edges get a dark golden brown they should be done. Pull them from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before turning over on a cooling rack. 

 

I was able to wait close to 20 minutes before I gave in and truthfully now I'm distracting myself  by posting this here. My suggestion? Double the batch and make 24 because if you share these with anyone else, you're going to need them. The edges get wonderfully crispy and the insides stay soft and gooey.

So simple, sooooo good.

A few items worth mentioning:

• Well like I said above, any bakers spray like Baker's Joy Cooking Spray is a helpful time/mess saver.
• I also recommend a good quality muffin tin. Anything too thin or lightweight has a tendency to burn faster and cook unevenly.  I have these two and they didn't cost me an arm and a leg: Mini and Standard.