Little Bites of Heaven

in the form of mini Pecan Pie Muffins! I must say that these are by far some of the tastiest muffins I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Everyone at church raves about them when I bring them to potluck breakfasts.

Why mini? Well, they are just so darn cute and these little babies pack loads of flavor and often one mini is enough to satisfy me. Their size makes them easy to transport (I have used empty egg cartons) perfect for breakfast/brunch potlucks when people want to taste a little of everything. Most people go back for "just one more" of these muffins as they can't seem to get enough!

These are by NO means a healthy breakfast muffin (is there such a thing anyway??) but because they are made into mini muffins, you can easily enjoy one with a bowl of fruit and a glass of skim milk to balance out the sugar/butter in these little babies.

I got the recipe from allrecipes but changed it up a bit. My changes are in red. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pecan-Pie-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Mini Pecan Pie Muffins

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped pecans (I used 1/2 cup ground, 1/2 cup chopped)

2/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 TBS ground cinnamon

1/4 cup ground pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour 18 mini muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. (I greased and floured, do this or they will stick!)

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and pecans. In a separate bowl beat the butter and eggs together until smooth, stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full.

In a small bowl wisk together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 TBS cinnamon and 1/4 cup ground pecans. Gently sprinkle over top of muffin batter. Make sure not to get a lot on the pan or it will burn and stick making clean-up hard.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done. I let cool in pan for 2 minutes and then transfered to rack to finish cooling. Take care when removing from pan as they are delicate and will fall apart easily. I used a toothpick to pry them loose from the sides of the pan when needed.