Pecan Pie Brownies

Chewy fudgy brownie on the bottom with pecan pie filling on top, these pecan pie brownies start with store-brought brownie mix. They disappear in a flash and are super easy to bake!

A couple of years ago my mom was living with us on hospice care and I wanted invite her sister and nephews and their families over for Sunday lunch, to have a little time chatting and laughing together while Mom could still appreciate it. 

The main part of the menu was simple to decide. We are a Cajun family so I made an immense pot of gumbo and a potato salad. Two of Mom’s favorites. Our beverage was something my maternal grandmother often served, pink lemonade with crushed pineapple, a great childhood memory for me and my cousins. 

I am usually all about baking things from scratch but time was precious so I started thinking about ways to fancy up a brownie mix. Back to my Cajun roots again, I had the brilliant, and I thought novel idea, to top it with pecan pie filling. Like many of my “original” ideas, a quick Google search found 11,900,000 results (0.24s) for that very thing. 

So these may not be the first pecan pie brownies you’ve ever seen, but I promise they are delicious. 

Pecan Pie Brownies

The ingredient list below calls for one boxed brownie mix along with the other ingredients listed on the box. I use the 16.3 oz Betty Crocker fudge mix so I’ve listed the other ingredients as well. Your box mix may call for something different. Please read the box and mix as instructed.

Ingredients

For the brownie base:

1 9×9 size boxed brownie mix (Betty Crocker fudge mix, see note above.)

1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

2 eggs

2 tablespoons water

For the pecan pie topping:

1/2 cup or 113g butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup or 120ml corn syrup

1 cup or 200g brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups, chopped, or 175g pecans

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 9X9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. 

Prepare the brownie mix as directed on the box. 

Stir by hand, just until mixed. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan.

Bake the brownies for half of the recommended baking time plus 5 additional minutes to begin. 

While the brownies are baking, prepare the pecan pie topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. 

Then whisk in the eggs. 

After eggs are mixed in thoroughly, stir in the chopped pecans. 

When the `brownies are done with their baking time of “half the recommended, plus five minutes” pull them out. If they still look wet and completely uncooked, return them to the oven for 3-5 minutes, then check again. While they won’t be fully cooked, the top should be starting to set up. I baked mine for 25 minutes. The top was just looking set and shiny at 23 so I left it in another two minutes to make sure. 

Pour the pecan pie topping evenly over the brownies.

Place the brownies, with pecan pie topping, back into the oven and continue baking for an additional 30-35 minutes. The top should be set before you remove the pan from the oven. If it still jiggles, leave it in for another few minutes.

Allow brownies to cool completely on a cooling rack. Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. Or if you are in a hurry, you can chill in the refrigerator first. 

These pecan pie brownies are very sweet and rich! Cut them into small pieces to serve. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with my favorite nut, the pecan, in honor of National Pecan Pie Day yesterday. Many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures. Check out the links below.

• Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pecan Pie by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Creamy Mixed Green Salad with Apple & Pecans by Sneha's Recipe
• German Chocolate Cake with Caramelized Coconut Pecan Icing by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pain de Pecan by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pecan Pie Brownies by Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Orange Glazed Pecan Muffins #MuffinMonday

Sweet buttery orange glazed pecans elevate a simple orange muffin to a super treat in these orange glazed pecan muffins. Enjoy with a cup of tea or a cold glass of milk!

As I mentioned in my post on Saturday, I made those orange glazed pecans solely to include them in muffin recipe for today but thankfully the pecan recipes makes about twice what you need for the muffins. Otherwise, there would not be enough left, they are that more-ish and delicious. 

Orange Glazed Pecan Muffins

Orange glazed pecans are super simple to make. You can find my recipe here: https://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/2023/08/orange-glazed-pecans.html 

You can also use store-bought candied pecans. I often find them in the bulk section at Kroger. 

Ingredients for 12 muffins

2/3 cup or 130g sugar

Zest of 1 mandarin orange

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 eggs

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil

Juice of 2 mandarin oranges (about 1/4 cup or 60ml)

1 cup or 100g orange glazed pecans

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with muffin papers. Since I was concerned that the pecans might get sticky again when hot, I chose to just grease my pan this time. 

Measure your sugar into a bowl and zest the mandarin orange into it. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to press down on the zest and mix it in with the sugar, releasing the flavor and oil till the sugar is a pale yellow and whole bowl smells of bright citrusy sunshine. Go ahead, take a big sniff. It's glorious! 

Whisk together your flour, orange sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. 

Chop the glazed pecans.

Add most of them to the flour mixture, saving some for sprinkling on the tops before baking. Use your hands to mix them in and separate any pieces that are sticking together till they are all well coated in the flour mixture.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, oil, milk and orange juice.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just mixed, with a little flour still showing. 

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top with the reserved pecans. 

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pans and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It is once again the last Monday of the month, which means it's time for Muffin Monday! Check out all the great muffin recipes my blogger friends are sharing today. 

• Carrot, Mango and Zucchini Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Orange Blueberry Zucchini Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Orange Glazed Pecan Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Vanilla Pudding Zucchini Bread Muffins from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Zucchini Snickerdoodle Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Orange Glazed Pecans

Super easy to make but addictively delicious, these orange glazed pecans are a delightful snack, muffin ingredient or dessert topper. 

I made these orange glazed pecans specifically to use in an orange muffin recipe, an idea that came to me in the middle of the night last night. My brain is weird and wonderful like that. Orange muffins with pecans would be good but what if I kicked them up a notch with orange glazed pecans? 

It was a good decision and you’ll find that recipe here on Monday. Meanwhile, make some glazed pecans and try not to eat them all. You’ll need about half of them for the muffins, if you can manage to save that many. 

For years my mom has been telling me about some orange glazed pecans that were a specialty of my aunt Karen’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Ayo, but I’ve never made them. I think she used frozen orange juice concentrate. This version is much easier and I look forward to making some for Mom soon. 

Orange Glazed Pecans

A few of my pecan halves were broken but I carried on anyway because, as mentioned above, my plan was to chop a lot of them up to use in a muffin recipe. If you are serving these to guests and need them to look pretty, you might want to choose all whole halves. 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons orange juice

Zest from 1 Mandarin orange or tangerine

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups or 150g pecan halves

Method

Add pecans, brown sugar, butter, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and salt to a medium skillet over medium heat. 

Stir regularly while the butter and sugar melt into a syrup. 

Once mixture is bubbling, stir frequently, until pecans are golden brown and all of the orange-sugar mixture has evaporated and the pecans are well coated with the glaze. 

Spread the pecans out onto a silicone pat or piece of nonstick baking parchment paper, separating them right away. 

Cool completely then store in an airtight container someplace cool. 

Enjoy! 

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Pecan Pie Muffins #MuffinMonday

These pecan pie muffins are crunchy outside and chewy inside, the absolute best of both worlds if you love pecan pie and muffins!

Waaaay back in January of 2015, I saved a pecan pie muffin recipe from the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything with great intentions of making it immediately. I mean, really, what kind of pecan pie lover would I be if I wouldn’t also want a muffin that tastes like pecan pie?

And yet, somehow, it’s taken me almost seven years to finally make these muffins. Seven long years when I could have been enjoying their sticky pie-filling-like insides and crunchy outsides. Which makes me really sad now that I’ve tasted them. They are pure delight. 

Pecan Pie Muffins

The original recipe made eight muffins in a regular muffin pan filled only 2/3 of the way full so that a knife could be run around the outside to get them out of the pan. If that seems like a palaver, use a silicone muffin pan instead. 

Ingredients

1 cup, packed, or 200g light brown sugar

1/2 cup or 63g all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups or 230g chopped pecans

2/3 cup or 75g butter, softened, plus extra for the pan

2 eggs, at room temperature

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 8 or 9 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing them generously with butter. Do not skimp on this step because these pecan pie muffins are super sticky. As I mentioned above, if you have silicone muffin cups or a silicone muffin pan, this would be a good time to employ them instead. 

As you can see from my photo below, I used a Wilton silicone heart muffin pan and I STILL buttered it, just in case! If you want one too, here’s an Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3myKzQx 

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour and salt.  Stir in the chopped pecans. 

In a separate larger bowl, whisk the softened butter and room temperature eggs together.  It’s going to look a little curdy, but don’t let that bother you.

Pour the butter/egg mixture into the dry ingredients and fold until just combined.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Again, if you are using a regular pan, I recommend you make 8 or even 9 muffins with this batter so that the muffins don’t bake up and over the sides of the pan. That way you can run a knife around the muffins to remove them. 

If you are using a silicone pan, put another metal pan beneath it for support. 

Bake full 6-cup muffins for 25 minutes or until the tops are crunchy and the edges are browned. If you’ve opted for smaller muffins, check them around 15-18 minutes.

Leave the muffins to cool in the pan for about 5-7 minutes, then either push them gently out of a silicone pan or, as previously mentioned, run a knife around the muffins in a metal pan and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Check out those pecan pie-like insides! I wish I could describe to you how good these are. Soooooo Good.

Enjoy!

It’s the last Muffin Monday of 2021 and we’ve got some lovely recipes for you today. Check them out below.

• Best Sourdough Morning Glory Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Cheddar and Chive Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Lemon Curd Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pecan Pie Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Snickerdoodle Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Vegan Coconut Gingerbread Muffins from Magical Ingredients

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. 

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Jalapeño Pecan Cheese Ball

This spreadable Jalapeño Pecan Cheese Ball is made with cream cheese and cheddar. It’s a spicy, creamy, crunchy, delicious, attractive addition to your party table. Watch it disappear!

Growing up I was not a fan of the cheese balls my paternal grandmother adored. But because she loved them, they always made an appearance at family gatherings around the holidays. I think my mom bought them for Gram from Hickory Farms but I’ll have to get back to you on that.

If you’ve been buying them too, I’m here to tell you how easy they are to make at home. The only challenging part is mixing the ingredients together since this makes a fairly firm ball. Roll up your sleeves and apply a little elbow grease to that wooden mixing spoon and you’ll be fine.

Jalapeño Pecan Cheese Ball

The ingredients below make one substantial cheese ball (about 1.1 lbs or 500g) but I can promise it will disappear in no time. We like to spread it on crackers or toast but you just might find yourself licking the knife when all of those are gone. Choose a dull one.

Ingredients

8 oz or 227g cream cheese, softened

4 oz or 113g sharp white cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups or 150g pecans

2 green onions

1 fresh jalapeño

4 soft sun-dried tomato halves (if in oil, drain and pat completely dry with paper towels)

To serve:

Crackers or toast rounds

Method

Grate the cheddar cheese. Finely mince the jalapeño, green onions and sun-dried tomatoes. Separate out about 1 tablespoon each of the vegetables to be used later when we roll the cheese ball. 

Chop the pecans finely.

In a bowl, use a wooden spoon or stiff spatula to combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, one quarter of the pecans (you can just eyeball this) and the bigger piles of jalapeño, green onions and sun-dried tomatoes until thoroughly blended. 

Form the mixture into a ball.

Cover your work surface with cling film. I find this works best if I wipe the countertop with a clean damp sponge first which helps the cling film stick and stay in place. Sprinkle the reserved minced jalapeño, green onions and sun-dried tomatoes onto the cling film. 

Top these with the remainder of the chopped pecans. Transfer the cheese ball to the middle. 

Dampen your hands with a little water to stop the cheese from sticking to them and then roll the cheese ball around on the pecans and veggies until it’s completely covered. You can keep rolling it, applying gentle pressure until most of the pecans have adhered to the ball. 

Pile any leftover pecan/veggie bits in the middle of your serving plate and, using your hands, pop the cheese ball on top, pressing down gently. 

Refrigerate the jalapeño pecan cheese ball, covered, for at least 1 hour to chill.

Serve with crackers or toasted rounds of bread.

Enjoy!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month so that means it’s time for my Foodie Extravaganza friends to get together to celebrate an obscure food holiday. This time it’s National Georgia Pecan Month! I can’t promise my pecans are from Georgia but this recipe certainly showcases my favorite nut. Check out the links to the other recipes below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Autumn Flavored Rice Pilaf  by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Autumn Pecan Sourdough  by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Candied Pecans by  Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken & Pecans Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• German Chocolate Banana Bread by The Spiffy Cookie
• Jalapeño Pecan Cheese Ball by  Food Lust People Love
• Pecan Chutney by Magical Ingredients
• Pecan Long Grain and Wild Rice (Instant Pot) by Palatable Pastime

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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