These brown butter pecan cupcakes are made with nutty brown butter and topped with toasted buttered pecans! They're the perfect fall dessert!
As a born and raised southerner, one of my favorite ice cream flavors is butter pecan! So I wanted to capture that flavor in cupcake form!
You might also like these pecan pie cookie bars or this brown butter pecan biscotti!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these brown butter pecan cupcakes!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Buttered Pecans - The buttered pecans are the star of the show! But you could substitute pretty much any type of nut in it's place!
Almond Extract - I just love how the almond extract pairs with the nutty flavor of the brown butter!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
I recommend making the brown butter the night before you make the cupcakes, so that it has time to fully cool to room temperature!
Since both the cupcakes and the buttercream call for brown butter, I find it easier to just make one large batch and then weigh out the difference using a kitchen scale (½ cup of butter weighs about 113 grams).
However, if you don't have a scale you can just make two separate batches of brown butter!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Buttered Pecans
The first step is making the buttered pecans! This is optional but I just love the extra flavor it adds!
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Toss together the pecans, softened brown butter, and a pinch of salt and spread in an even layer on the pan.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pecans are lightly toasted. Roughly chop and set aside.
How to Make Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the brown butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract together until combined.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture.
Then stir in the milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
Then gently fold in the chopped buttered pecans.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Let the brown butter pecan cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips & Tricks
For these big beautiful frosting swirls on these butter pecan cupcakes, I use the 9FT tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!! After frosting, garnish with buttered pecans!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. However, they taste best when served at room temperature! I like to let them sit at room temperature for about an hour before serving.
Of course not! You can absolutely substitute regular unsalted butter. I just love the flavor that brown butter adds.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Brown Butter Pecan Cupcakes
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Buttered Pecans
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 2 tablespoons unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- pinch flaky sea salt
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup buttered pecans
Brown Butter Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted brown butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons milk, or heavy cream
Instructions
Buttered Pecans
- The first step is making the buttered pecans! This is optional but I just love the extra flavor it adds!
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toss together the pecans, softened brown butter, and a pinch of salt and spread in an even layer on the pan.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pecans are lightly toasted. Roughly chop and set aside.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the brown butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract together until combined.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture.
- Then stir in the milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
- Then gently fold in the chopped buttered pecans.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
- Let the brown butter pecan cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Brown Butter Frosting
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature brown butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
- Mix in vanilla, salt, and milk until fully combined.
- Beat the frosting on high for 4-5 minutes until lightly and fluffy.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and top with buttered pecans.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ephemera Bakes says
Thanks for this! I got a lot more cupcakes than called for, but that's a good problem to have.
I cored mine out, piped in some key lime pie filling, and covered that with vanilla ermine frosting. It's the cake version of a key lime pie. I'd highly recommend giving it a go!
Gretchan Ingram says
Am I reading the recipe wrong? or am I meant to have quite a bit of leftover buttered pecans?
Kyleigh Sage says
I like having a bit leftover to use as garnish and just to snack on! But you can just make half if you prefer.
Ginni says
These were a big hit! So many layers of flavor.
aileen says
hello! I'm confused about the measurements for the brown butter....when you write 1/2 cup unsalted brown butter for the cupcakes... are we using 1/2 cup of butter to melt and brown? or are we measuring out 1/2 cup of the browned butter once it's already prepped and cooled to room temp?
thank you!
Kyleigh Sage says
1/2 cup already browned! I brown the butter for the cupcakes and frosting together and then just measure it out after. Depending on your butter, a little water will evaporate during browning, so you can either add an extra tablespoon or two of butter while browning or make up the difference after with a little regular unsalted butter added into the brown butter at the end.
Bri says
Hi, I wanted to make this recipe for thanksgiving this week! I was hoping to have a boozy desert. I think bourbon would be a great addition but I have no idea how much I can add without throwing off everything. What do you think? Can I make the addition to the cupcake without having to chasing any other measurement. Or the buttercream? Or both?
Kyleigh Sage says
Oh absolutely! I think bourbon would go great in these! I have a lot of other boozy cupcake recipes you can reference (like these maple bourbon cupcakes, these eggnog cupcakes, and these mojito cupcakes).
For these, the adjustments I would make are:
- For the cupcake batter, you could reduce the milk to 1/3 cup and then add in 2 tablespoons of bourbon.
- What I do with some of my other boozy cupcakes, is right after they come out of the oven, brush the tops with a tiny bit of bourbon. It seeps into the cupcake while it's warm and adds the perfect slightly boozy flavor.
- For the buttercream, instead of adding milk to thin out the frosting, you could add 2 teaspoons of bourbon instead (more or less to taste).
mikki says
i made the frosting and wow it was so delicious, i added a lil almond extract and 🔥🔥🔥
Krista Montrairro says
I made these cupcakes and they were such a big hit!! I love the brown butter and the toasted pecans in the batter added that little extra crunch. These cupcakes were definitely worth trying if you haven't already.
Katie says
These are by far the BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had! Loved everything about them! The brown butter buttercream really sets it all off tho!
Makhaya says
This recipe is amazing. I loved the flavor combinations in these cupcakes. So delicious!
Karen says
I am such a fan of your blog! I made these cupcakes for my dad's birthday, he loves pecans and he is still talking about them. Thanks for sharing.