Tag Archives: pecan

Maple Pecan Cupcakes

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Ruthanne

These rich, dense chocolate cupcakes are topped with a light whipped maple pecan frosting that is out-of-this-world delicious!

I know. Maple pecan things are a dessert for the fall- not early summer! I just couldn’t resist. Maple and pecan are two of my favorite flavors together! I thought about saving this post for November and I couldn’t make myself wait to share it with you because it is just that good! These are delicious. So if you can’t bring yourself to make them, pin the recipe for later- but pin it. You will want this one someday!!! Promise.

Here is how we made these (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24 cupcakes)

One boxed chocolate cake mix plus oil and eggs to make according to box
Milk- enough to replace the water required by boxed mix.
1 (3.9 oz.) box of chocolate pudding (instant)
3 cups chopped pecans (divided)
24 pecan halves
2 sticks salted butter (softened)
2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
3 teaspoons of maple extract or flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Mix 1 and 1/2 cups of chopped pecans with dry cake mix.
Add eggs and oil according to package, and add milk instead of water- in the same amount as listed on package.
Add box of instant chocolate pudding.
Beat on high for 2 minutes until smooth.
Scoop evenly between 24 cupcake liners placed in muffin tins and bake according to package- until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Gently remove from tins and allow cupcakes to cool on countertop.
Make frosting by placing butters, powdered sugar and maple flavoring in a large mixing bowl.
Beat on high until light and very fluffy (2 to 3 minutes).
Fold in one cup of chopped pecans (this leaves 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top!)
Use a cookie scoop to place a dome of frosting on each cooled cupcake. Press a pecan half on top and sprinkle with a bit of chopped pecans.

Store in a loosely sealed container for up to 3 or 4 days. Refrigerate to keep a day or two longer.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: You are going to love these! If you want to simplify, just make the boxed cake mix as-is plus nuts. The milk and pudding make the cupcakes more dense, rich and moist- but you could skip adding these extra ingredients to save time. It’s that frosting… even my friends who aren’t big frosting lovers were licking this stuff off the top of these cupcakes. Yum. Hope you get a chance to try them- now- this fall- whenever!! 🙂 Enjoy! ~r

Other maple and/or pecan recipes to try! (click on a photo to see instructions)

2 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged chocolate, chocolate pecan cupcakes, cupcake, cupcakes, fall, Fathers Day cupcakes, maple, maple buttercream, maple cupcakes, maple frosting, maple recipes, pecan, pecan cupcakes, scooped frosting, thanksgiving cupcakes, thanksgiving dessert, whipped frosting, whipped maple frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Pie Cupcakes

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Ruthanne

If you like pecan pie, you will go nuts over these cupcakes! With caramel pecan pie filling in the middle and crisp pie crust decorating the top, these say Happy Thanksgiving in a fun new way!

There’s nothing more yummy than a warm caramel pecan pie in the fall. I have a favorite- and it’s here already on Easybaked as my Christmas Eve Caramel Pecan Pie. These cupcakes take that pie up a notch and they turned out better than I even imagined they would~yum!

There are a couple of steps to this recipe, so it is a little more time consuming, but well worth the effort~ I promise!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:

One boxed caramel cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

Pie filling:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (melted)
3 eggs (these are in addition to the eggs used for cake mix)
1 (12 oz) jar of caramel topping
2 cups chopped pecans (plus 24 pecan halves for decorating if desired)

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

One refrigerated pie crust
1 cup (2 sticks) of salted butter
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Pie Filling:

Make pie filling 1st. Start by preheating oven to 350F degrees
In a large mixing bowl, beat 3 eggs together lightly with a fork.
Add sugar, stirring until dissolved
Stir in caramel topping and butter
Stir in chopped pecans
Pour into a greased casserole dish and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Cool completely (I placed this in the fridge to cool more quickly)

Cupcakes:

As the pie filling bakes, make cake mix according to directions on boxed mix and divide evenly among 24 cupcake liners placed in a tin.
Once pie filling is finished, bake cupcakes according to box.
Remove cupcakes from oven and tins and allow them to cool completely.

Frosting and pie crust toppers:

Unroll pie crust onto counter and use any cookie cutter you like to cut into 24 pieces. I used a fall leaf Linzer cookie cutter and added the leaf cut-outs on the cupcakes too.
Place pie pieces on a cookie sheet and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
Bake until slightly browned and crispy. Cool.

Make frosting by combining butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3 to 4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembling Dessert:

To assemble cupcakes, make sure everything has cooled. Use a cupcake corer to remove a core out of the center of each cupcake.
Scoop or spoon some pie filling into each cupcake and replace the top of the core back on top of the filling.

Place frosting into a zip-top bag fitted with a decorating tip and pipe swirls of frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Add a pie crust topper and a pecan half and ENJOY!!!!

My thoughts: These really do capture the delicious flavor of pecan pie. They were a big hit with everyone who tried them. I really liked the pie crusts on top- so yummy in that buttercream frosting! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe out! Enjoy! ~r

Love pecans? We do too! Here are some other yummy pecan recipes. Just click on a photo to see the recipe!

Need a fun and unique gift idea? Easybaked has adorable boxed sets of notecards. They have an Easybaked dessert photo on the front and a recipe on the back! The come in a cute box and the best part? They are ON SALE for Christmas, include free shipping and the site that is hosting them offers $10 off a $50 purchase! Enjoy!!! (Click on photo for more information)

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged buttercream frosting, caramel, caramel cupcakes, caramel sundae topping, chopped pecans, christmas, cupcakes, dessert, filled cupcakes, pecan, pecan pie, pecan pie cupcakes, pie crust, pie crust cut-outs, recipe, thanksgiving. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cookie Cups

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cookie cups full of creamy caramel, chocolate and pecans. So many fun fall flavors in one little dessert!

There’s something about November that makes me think caramel and pecans. Comfort food, maybe? Thanksgiving? I’m not sure, but these yummy little treats hit the spot! They are fun to make, and a pretty mini dessert for all those November and December get-togethers.

Here’s how they are made: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

Cookies:

2 sticks (one cup) butter (softened)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

1 bag of Wilton’s candy melts in milk chocolate
2 cups of chopped pecans and about 60 whole pecans
32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Add butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, and knead into a soft ball of dough
Use a small cookie scoop (I used one that holds ½ tablespoon of batter) to portion your dough into mini muffin tins that have been sprayed with non-stick spray
Use a tart shaper, or a wooden spoon to press the dough into a cup shape.

Bake at 350F degrees for 7-8 minutes and remove from oven.
Press centers in a second time and allow cups to cool for just a couple of minutes.
Use a small paring knife to pop each cup out and allow them to cool on the counter.

Toppings:

Place caramels, sweetened condensed milk and butter into a medium saucepan and heat on medium over the stove until all of the caramels are melted.
Heat milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments until melted and smooth.
Place chopped pecans into a small bowl.
To assemble, dip top edge of cup in candy melts and then in chopped nuts.

Place caramel sauce into a sturdy zip top bag and clip a corner.
Pipe caramel into each cup until filled completely and top with a whole almond.
Allow caramel and chocolate to firm up.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are a little time-consuming to make, but sooooo yummy. They are a perfect mini-dessert for any of the upcoming holidays, and they got RAVE reviews in my little world! That caramel….!!!! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun mini desserts here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe)

3 Comments

Posted in Candy, Cookie Cups, Cookies and tagged autumn, best, best fall desserts, candy, caramel, caramel sauce, chocolate, chocolate cookie, chopped pecans, christmas, cookie cups, cookies, creamy caramel, dessert, fall, holiday cookies, holiday desserts, milk chocolate, pecan, recipe, thanksgiving, treats, turtles. Bookmark the permalink.

Christmas Eve Caramel Pecan Pie!

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Ruthanne

This easy pecan pie is full of warm and creamy caramel and nuts. A Christmas tradition at our house, it’s sure to be a big hit with your family!

Our family has had some odd Christmas eve traditions. Most notable among them: eating dinner at Arby’s before the Christmas Eve service at church. I’m not sure how that one got started, but it just wasn’t Christmas Eve without a roast beef sandwich in a cold and relatively lonely Arbys. Looking back, it was a little depressing I guess… empty restaurant, workers ready to go home, elevator-style Christmas music… but as a kid it was magical. Our whole family together on the eve of so many exciting things… eating roast beef.

After I left for college, my parents got new neighbors and this wonderful lady would knock on our door every year on Christmas Eve and bring us this pie, piping hot and oozing caramel. It became a new tradition and we all called it “Christmas Eve Pie”.

The neighbors have since moved, but whenever I taste this pie I am transported to happy memories of Christmas Eves past, enjoying this dessert with my family around me, watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” by the fire. As you enjoy your Christmas traditions with your family, I pray you are blessed with beautiful memories and delicious food! Merry Christmas dear friends!!!!
Here’s the recipe: (printable version)
INGREDIENTS:

one pie crust (use your own or get pre-made)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter (melted)

3 eggs

1 (12 oz) jar of caramel topping

1 1/2 cups (8 oz) pecan halves

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

Press pie crust into pie plate

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs slightly with a fork.

Add sugar, stirring until dissolved

Stir in caramel topping and butter

Stir in pecan halves

Pour filling into pie shell

Bake at 350F degrees for 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean.

Serve warm, but chill to store.

Other Christmas recipes at Easybaked:

7 Comments

Posted in Pies and tagged baking, best, caramel, caramel sauce, christmas, dessert, family, holidays, pecan, pie, recipe, tradition, warm. Bookmark the permalink.

Heath Bar Ice Cream Dessert

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Ruthanne

This recipe is a classic family favorite. It is one of my grandma’s recipes, and I say “one of” because my grandma is a treasure trove of recipes (especially desserts!) My cousins and I joke about how many desserts show up at family gatherings. The conversations go something like this:

“Oh no, we only have 8 desserts today…this could be a disaster.”

“There are 24 of us here…that means we can each only have 1/3 of a dessert.”

“I want to try a little of everything.”

“I get a third of that chocolate cake”

“There’s ice cream? Does that count as a ninth dessert?”

This is nearly always one of the desserts at our family dinners. It’s fabulous. Creamy and light and butterscotch-y…oh my. You’ve got to try this one out with your family!

Ready for the recipe? Here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 package (10 oz) Lorna Doone cookies, crushed (if you can’t get these specific cookies, use 2 cups of another brand of shortbread cookies)
3 packages (3.4 oz) INSTANT vanilla pudding
2 and 3/4 cups milk
1 quart of butter pecan ice cream (softened)
1 (8oz). Cool Whip
One bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (or several crushed Heath bars)

DIRECTIONS:

Crust:

Combine melted butter with crushed shortbread cookies and press into a 9″ by 13″ cake pan (I use glass)

Filling:

In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding and beat on high for about two minutes, until pudding becomes thick.
Add softened ice cream to pudding and stir by hand until well combined.
Pour over crust in pan.

Topping:

Spread Cool Whip topping over the entire dessert.
Top this with desired amount of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (I used the whole bag!!)
Cover dessert tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until serving. Allow dessert to warm for several hours before serving.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love toffee and pecans and butterscotch and ice cream…this dessert just makes me smile. It reminds me of family meals and laughter and love. You can’t argue with a dessert that does that! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe with your family! Thanks for sharing your recipe grandma! Love you! ~r

Other yummy treats for your family:

9 Comments

Posted in Frozen desserts, Uncategorized and tagged baking, butterscotch, chocolate, dessert, family, heath bar, ice cream, Lorna Doone, pecan, pudding, recipe, shortbread cookies, thanksgiving, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Pecan Cookies

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Ruthanne

Have you ever tried Duncan Hines Caramel Cake mix? It is soooooo good! As a general rule, I use Duncan Hines when I bake cakes by mix. This is one of the BEST flavors out there. A couple of weeks ago I posted a recipe for German Chocolate Cake cookies that use a cake mix for the cookies. The cookies turned out so yummy that I decided to try a different cake flavor….caramel! These caramel cookies are topped with chocolate and pecans– a perfect fall treat!

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Caramel cake mix
1/3c. softened margarine
1/2 box of cream cheese (4 oz.)
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
1 egg
24-30 chocolate stars or kisses
24-30 pecan halves

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
Add egg, stirring until smooth.
Blend in melted chocolate.
Add cake mix last and stir until combined. Use your hands to knead mixture into a heavy cookie dough.
Make evenly- size small balls of dough (I use a Small Cookie Scoop) and place on cookie sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
Remove from oven and press chocolate (star or kiss) into center of cookie. Return to oven for 1 minute.
Press pecan into softened chocolate on the top of each cookie. Cool until chocolate is hardened.
ENJOY!!

My thoughts– easy easy easy and wonderful caramel yummy-ness! you can’t go wrong with these cookies!

German Chocolate Cookie Bites!

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ruthanne

What could be better than a big slice of german chocolate cake? Why a german chocolate cookie stuffed full of that yummy coconut pecan icing of course!

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of German Chocolate cake mix
1/3c. softened margarine
1/2 box of cream cheese (4 oz.)
1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)
1 egg
German chocolate frosting (get a tub of it –or be fancy and use my favorite recipe for it!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
Add egg, stirring until smooth.
Blend in melted chocolate.
Add cake mix last and stir until combined. Use your hands to knead mixture into a heavy cookie dough.
Make evenly- size small balls of dough (I use a Small Cookie Scoop) and place on cookie sheets.

Gently press cookies into a flattened cookie shape (rather than a ball) as they will not spread out when they bake.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
Remove cookies from oven and cool completely.
Spread frosting between two similarly -sized cookies and chill until serving.

My thoughts: I love how the cookie part turned out. I was really just experimenting with using a cake mix. I’ve used a cake mix before with my Carrot Cake Cookies– but I knew they couldn’t be made the same (oatmeal in a german chocolate cake?!). The cookies are dense and sooo chocolatey and rich. They scoop wonderfully and don’t stick to the cookie sheet– perfect! Look for them again soon– I want to try my hand at some caramel cookies with caramel cake mix!!! Enjoy!

21 Comments

Posted in Cookies and tagged chocolate, coconut, cookies, cookies made from cake mix, dessert, easy german chocolate cookies, filled cookies, german chocolate cookies, pecan, sweets. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cheesecake

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Ruthanne

This rich vanilla cheesecake is topped with a thick layer of soft caramel, smooth chocolate and pecans–YUM!

INGREDIENTS:

Cheesecake:

9 oz. chocolate wafer cookies (I use animal crackers)
1/4 c. margarine (melted)
2 (8oz.) packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. white chocolate chips (melted)
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. margarine (melted)
3 tsp. vanilla

Caramel Topping:

32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1/2c. margarine
1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Chocolate Topping:

1/4c. heavy whipping cream
1/2c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 15 pecan halves.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Crush cookies into fine crumbs and add melted margarine. Combine well and press into the bottom of a 9-Inch Springform Pan
Beat softened cream cheese with sugar until smooth.
Add eggs one at a time, beating in between each one.
Add remaining cheesecake ingredients, beating until smooth.
Pour into crust and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 60 minutes,
Turn off oven, open oven door a little and allow to sit for another 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and run knife around edge of pan. Remove edge of pan.
Allow to come to room temperature (make toppings during this time)
CARAMEL: Put caramels, condensed milk and margarine into a saucepan and melt over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth (6-8 minutes)
CHOCOLATE: Put whipping cream into saucepan and heat just until bubbling at edges. Turn heat off, add chocolate chips, cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, stir until smooth.
Pour caramel over top of cheesecake, smoothing to edges
Refrigerate about 10 minutes.
Pour chocolate over caramel and smooth into a center circle.
Place pecan halves around edges and drizzle with any extra caramel you have (if desired)
REFRIGERATE cheesecake overnight before serving for best consistency. Remove bottom part of pan when cake is chilled.

My thoughts:

I made this for my friends Spencer and Rachel this weekend. They are having a party to celebrate their baby’s 1st birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASILINN!!!!!

I haven’t made a cheesecake in awhile and I’ve missed it! This cheesecake recipe is my staple recipe– the toppings and crust may vary, but the cheesecake recipe stays the same– I haven’t found another that I like better… The caramel on this is THICK (you may want to half the recipe for it if you aren’t a huge caramel fan like I am). This might seem like it’s a difficult recipe because of all the steps, but it really isn’t hard– start early in the evening though because its a process! Hope you get a chance to try this! ENJOY! -r