Pecan Pie Muffins

Yesterday I saw an interesting animated movie called 9.  It is a post apocalyptic world.  All of the characters are man made.  Either I didn't understand all of the movie or there were some whole in the plot.  It was a good movie regardless.

These miniature, automated bean bags were racing to safe the world.  All of the humans were already dead.  I wasn't crazy about the happy ending where all the humans were dead but oh well. 

For drama, they slowly reveled the plot line.  It was initially unclear who the little creatures were and who the enemy was.  As I mentioned, there were some aspects of the movie that didn't make sense. 

 

Regardless, the movie was interesting.  It was unique, I haven't seen anything quite like it.  Often movies have very similar plot lines or staging, so I appreciate new viewing experiences. 

I made these muffins a couple of weeks ago.  I still have a couple frozen in the freezer for an impromptu breakfast.  The muffin recipe came from Martha Stewart.  I added chocolate and caramels.  I also only made half of the recipe.

The ingredients for the muffins are 3/4 cup pecans, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 6 tablespoons melted and cooled butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup chocolate chunks, and 6 caramel squares.

I toasted the pecans for about seven minutes at 350 degrees on a baking sheet.

I added the flour, baking powder, and salt to a bowl.  I stirred these ingredients together.

In another bowl, I combined the melted butter, brown sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla.

I poured the wet ingredients into the dry and mixed the batter together.

I stirred the roasted pecans and chocolate chunks into the batter.

I scooped the muffin batter into six paper muffin liners.  I nestled a caramel into each muffin.

I baked the muffins for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  I let them cool a few minutes in the pan before letting them cool completely on a wire rack.

These were delicious muffins.  They were sweet, caramelized, and nutty.  The chocolate was a great addition.

The texture was tender and soft.  They were packed full of crunchy nuts and chocolate.

The taste was very similar to a pecan pie.  It wasn't gooey of course, but it was as packed full of nuts.

The caramel square did not add much.  It sunk to the bottom of the muffin and became a too stiff.  If I were you, I would not add a caramel square.  It was yummy and a little too decadent for a muffin.