Do me a favor – think of your favorite holiday dessert. Got it? That was quick! 😉 Maybe you thought of one of the classic holiday desserts: pie. Growing up, my Mom made a pie every Thanksgiving and Christmas, cause that’s what you’re supposed to do!

Till she realized that no one in our family was really that obsessed with pie, so eventually she stopped making pie and opted for bars or cookies instead. “Uh, Mom, where’s the pie?? You didn’t make PIE?” The horror! The shame! What was Thanksgiving or Christmas without pie?!?

The next year, she made pie. Guess what?

We had a lot of leftovers that never got eaten.. whoops. I know, I know, pie should be all sentimental and delicious, but cookies… have a special place in my families hearts.

Whether you love pie, or are eh/so-so about it, these Pecan Pie Muffins bring all the flavors of Pecan Pie to a warm, moist muffin, filled with crunchy pecans and cinnamon flavor. I may not be a big pie fan – but Pecan Pie Muffins??? Yeah, I’m there! 🙂

These Pecan Pie Muffins are a spin-off of my typical muffin recipe that’s only made with 1 gluten-free flour (oat flour, certified gluten-free), making them “flourless” and whole grain. I wanted to make these Muffins a little more rich though, so they have a little brown sugar in them – just 1/4 cup – to really seal the deal on the pecan/brown sugar combo in Pecan Pie.

A tiny bit of molasses and a lot of pecans, take this muffin recipe all the way to Pecan Pie Muffin status.

I’ve also changed something with my muffin recipe to make it a little healthier. If you’ve looked at my other muffin recipes, you may have noticed a little “edit” in the notes so you can do the same things to all my other muffin recipes.

Rather than using 1/2 cup of coconut oil (or butter) for the entire muffin recipe, I’ve switched to only 1/4 cup of coconut oil. How? Using 1/2 cup of almond milk (or milk of choice) instead of only 1/4 cup of milk. The muffins aren’t quite as melt-in-your-mouth this way, but they are still completely moist and delicious. The oats (oat flour) just need a bit more moisture than your typical flour to make sure things don’t get dry, and extra milk does the trick beautifully!

Coconut oil fiend??

I know you’re out there!! 😉 Then go ahead and soldier on with your 1/2 cup of coconut oil and only 1/4 cup of milk – no harm no foul! 🙂

See how beautifully fluffy and moist these Pecan Pie Muffins are on the inside? YUM 🙂

The method to making these Pecan Pie Muffins is the same as my other muffins: mix your dry ingredients together, mix your wet ingredients together, combine the two, and let the batter set for a few minutes for the oats to soak up all the goodness.

Then, stir in your pecans, fill up your muffins tins about 2/3-3/4 way full, and put a single pecan on top of each if you’d like them to look fancy 🙂

Lastly, bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Let them cool a bit and then enjoy!

A MUCH easier version of all the pecan pie flavors in muffin form 🙂

So tell me, is your family obsessed with pie?? Or, are they more interested in cookies, like mine? 🙂

Looking for more easy, breakfast recipes? Check out my Baked Peanut Butter Steel Cut Oats or Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread.

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Pecan Pie Muffins (gluten-free, whole grain)

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 261 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted, room temperature)
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pecans (chopped)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients: oat flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, and stir till well combined. 

3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your applesauce, brown sugar, coconut oil, almond milk, vanilla and molasses, and stir till all the ingredients are well incorporated.

4. Add to your medium mixing bowl your two eggs, whisking them into your other wet ingredients until they are well incorporated. 

5. Pour your wet ingredients from your medium sized mixing bowl into your dry ingredients (in your large mixing bowl). Stir until well combined.

6. Add in your chopped pecans and fold them into your batter.

7. Let your batter set for about 5-10 minutes so the oats have time to soak up all the wet ingredients, so your batter will come to the right consistency.

8. Scoop your muffin batter into each muffin tin, filling them about 2/3 way full, till they are all filled. You can place a single pecan on top of each muffin if you'd like, and gently push it into the batter a touch, so it will stick.

9. Bake your muffins for 18-20 minutes, or till the tops of your muffins are springy (and after poking a muffin with a toothpick, the toothpick comes out clean).

10. Devour!

Recipe Notes

I'd recommend storing these muffins in the fridge, so they will keep longer, and they should stay good for about one week. Alternatively, you put half of the muffins into a ziplock bag in your freezer to enjoy later, as these muffins are freezer friendly!