Get the amazing flavor of pecan pie in tender and pillowy cupcake form! Featuring a soft and airy brown sugar cupcake: these treats are filled with a crunchy and creamy homemade pecan pie inspired filling and topped with a fluffy brown sugar buttercream frosting.
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This recipe goes out to anyone who doesn't like making homemade pie! Or maybe you just don't like pie (I can respect that but I don't understand it)...
These cupcakes make a rocking alternative to pecan pie at your Thanksgiving table! We've got a soft brown sugar cupcake base, filled with a pecan pie inspired filling, and topped off with a brown sugar buttercream frosting.
pecan pie cupcakes ingredients:
There are three components to these cupcakes (the pecan pie filling, brown sugar cupcakes, and brown sugar frosting), but they use a lot of the same ingredients.
To make these cupcakes, you will need:
• milk
• brown, granulated, and powdered sugar
• cornstarch
• salt
• ground cinnamon
• pecans
• butter
• vanilla extract
• flour
• baking powder + baking soda
• eggs
• sour cream
how to make pecan pie cupcakes:
Make the pecan pie filling:
1. Measure out butter, vanilla, and pecans. You'll need to add these in while the pudding base is hot, so it just makes for an easier and more seamless prep to have them ready beforehand! Set aside to make the pudding base.
2. Combine remaining pudding ingredients into a pot. Whisk to combine.
3. Cook until the pudding mixture boils and thickens.
4. Add in your butter, vanilla, and pecans. Mix to combine.
5. Transfer to a bowl, and cool to room temperature before using.
Make the brown sugar cupcakes:
1. Whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Cream together butter and sugars.
3. Whisk in eggs, one at a time.
4. Whisk in vanilla.
5. Mix dry ingredients & sour cream into wet ingredients.
6. Portion batter into cupcake tin & bake.
7. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then on a wire rack until room temperature.
Make the brown sugar frosting:
1. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and salt.
2. Mix in powdered sugar.
3. Whip until light and airy.
4. Whisk in vanilla and milk. If the frosting is too thick, gradually whisk in more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches a smooth, pipe-able consistency.
Assembly!
1. Core cupcake centers, stopping before you reach the bottom.
2. Spoon in pecan pie filling.
3. Top with frosting! Sprinkle over some more chopped pecans for decoration if you'd like!
Enjoy!
pecan pie cupcake storage:
Keep your cupcakes covered with plastic wrap or an airtight lid and keep stored in the fridge. These cupcakes will keep for about 5 days. They're best enjoyed at room temperature, so I would recommend letting them sit out for 30 minutes before serving!
Check out these other recipes!
• Apple Crumb Muffins
• Classic Apple Pie
• Baked Carrot Donuts
• Pear Upside Down Cake
• Snowball Cookies
• Mini Pumpkin Cookies
Pecan Pie Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the pecan pie pudding filling:
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (100g) chopped pecans
- ¾ cup (180mL) milk
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the brown sugar cupcakes:
- 1 & ½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour, spoon and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180g) sour cream
For the brown sugar buttercream frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 225g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar, light or dark
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups (520g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Make the pecan pie pudding filling: Measure out your butter, vanilla, and pecans before you start to make the pudding so they're ready. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepot, combine milk, brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together until everything is well dissolved and the mixture is clump free (undissolved sugar at the bottom is fine!)
- Place your pot onto a stove burner set to medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Take the pot off the heat, and while it's still hot, add in your butter, vanilla, and pecans. Mix together until the butter is melted and all the ingredients are well combined.
- Transfer the pudding to a medium bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. When covering the pudding, press the plastic wrap onto the surface of the pudding to help prevent a skin from forming. Set aside at room temperature until the pudding is fully cooled.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 12 count cupcake tin with paper liners and set aside.
- Make the brown sugar cupcakes: In a medium bowl, add in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine, and set aside to prep the wet ingredients.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, and brown and granulated sugars. Using an electric mixer fitted with the beater attachment, or a whisk by hand, cream together the butter and sugars until well combined and you no longer see any dry sugar granules. This will take about 1 minute with the mixer set to medium speed or 2 minutes by hand.
- Whisk eggs into the butter / sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in your vanilla.
- Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and sour cream to the wet ingredients. Start by mixing in half of dry ingredients, followed by all of the sour cream. Add in the remaining half of the dry ingredients. Mix together until just combined and you no longer see any dry streaks of flour. A few clumps are fine. Take care not to over mix!
- Portion the cupcake batter into your cupcake cups, filling each cup no more than ⅔ of the way full. Bake the cupcakes in the center of your preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
- Cool the cupcakes for about 10 minutes in the tin, then transfer onto a wire rack and set aside to cool completely to room temperature before filling and frosting.
- Make the brown sugar buttercream frosting: In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, and salt. Using an electric mixer fitted with the beater attachment, cream together on medium-high speed until well combined and light in color (about 2 to 3 minutes).
- Mix in your powdered sugar in 2 additions. Mix on low speed until the powdered sugar is dissolved before adding the second addition. Mix on low speed again to dissolve the sugar, then turn the speed up to medium-high and whip for another 2 minutes, or until fluffy and airy.
- Add in your vanilla and 3 tablespoons of milk, and whip to combine. If the frosting is too thick, gradually mix in more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches a pipe-able consistency.
- Fill & frost! Core the centers of the cooled cupcakes with a cutout that's about ¾" / 2cm / 18mm large. I find it's easiest to do this with the bottom of a piping tip, a pairing knife, or a ½ teaspoon sized measuring spoon. Take care not to cut through to the bottom of the cupcake, otherwise the filling may spill out.
- Spoon some of the pecan filling into the hollow centers of the cupcakes until full, then pipe some frosting on top to cover. Serve!
Video
Enjoy!
Heather (UK) says
I made these for the first time today and I was so happy with how they came out! Such a delicious recipe! I'd never have thought about putting brown sugar into buttercream as I'd have been worried about it being grainy but it isn't at all. Thanks for a great recipe!