Pumpkin Bourbon Pecan Pie Cupcakes
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5 from 2 votes

Pumpkin Bourbon Pecan Pie Cupcakes

A delicious hybrid of 2 holiday favorites, pecan pie and pumpkin pie, these Pumpkin Bourbon Pecan Pie Cupcakes will add some flair to your holiday table.
Prep Time4 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time6 hrs 4 mins

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (see my recipe for 5 minute homemade pumpkin pie spice here)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil (I like to use safflower oil because it is milder and doesn't leave an oily taste)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree (plain pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie mix)

For the Pecan Pie Filling:

  • 1 cup whipping cream/heavy cream (cannot be 1/2 and 1/2, milk or light cream. Must be whipping cream/heavy cream)
  • 3/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 cup corn syrup (dark variety)
  • 4 large egg yolks (must be only the yolks or it won't work)
  • 2+1/2 Tbsp. bourbon (I used Jim Beam)
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter (doesn't have to be softened, but it's easier if it's softened)
  • 1+1/2 cups chopped pecans (plain pecans, not candied)

For the Frosting:

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened almost to room temperature, but you don't want them super soft)
  • 6 cups (720g) powdered/confectioners sugar
  • 1 batch caramel (see below for caramel ingredients)
  • 1 cup candied pecans (chopped - see below for candied pecan ingredients)

For the Candied Pecans for the Frosting:

  • 7+1/2 oz pecan halves
  • 2 Tbsp. bourbon
  • 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar (packed)
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

For the Caramel for the Frosting:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1+1/3 cups whipping cream/heavy cream
  • 2+1/4 cups light brown sugar (packed)

Instructions

For Pecan Pie Filling: *See Recipe Notes at end of recipe*

  • Whisk together the heavy cream, cornstarch, brown sugar, corn syrup and egg yolks in a large nonstick saucepan/Dutch oven (using a silicone whisk). Heat the mixture, stirring constantly, over medium heat until it begins boiling. Once boiling, continue cooking, whisking constantly, for ~4-5 minutes until thick.
  • Then, remove the pan from the heat, add in the butter, vanilla and bourbon and whisk until the butter completely melts. Add in the chopped pecans and stir until mixed in evenly, then place mixture in a heatproof, airtight container in the refrigerator and allow to cool for several hours (or overnight).

For the Caramel for the Frosting: *See Recipe Notes at end of recipe*

  • Place the butter, cream and brown sugar in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Heat while stirring with a heat-resistant spatula, until the butter is melted. Once the butter is melted, stir only occasionally until the mixture reaches a full boil. Once it reaches a full boil, stop stirring (and do not stir again while it's heating) and continue cooking for 3 minutes longer.
  • When the 3 minutes are up, remove the pan from heat and allow to sit just until mixture stops bubbling, then immediately transfer the mixture to a large, wide-bottomed heat-resistant glass bowl, cover and stick in the freezer for ~1+1/2-2 hours or until completely thick and not liquidy at all (it will have turned a light color throughout when it's fully cooled/thickened). Once the mixture has thickened, use immediately to make the frosting or, if you won't be making the frosting until later, cover the mixture and refrigerate until you're ready to make the frosting. Note: I have only chilled the mixture in the freezer so I can't say how long it would take in the refrigerator, but I would have to assume it would take at least 8 hours. Freezer is the way to go!

For the Candied Pecans for the Frosting: *See Recipe Notes at end of recipe*

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, line a medium-sized baking sheet with foil and set aside. Whisk the bourbon, vanilla extract, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small mixing bowl until thoroughly combined, then add in the pecan halves and stir until the pecans are thoroughly coated.
  • Spread the pecans out on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for ~10 minutes, stopping to stir a few times.
    Note: Be careful to avoid burning the pecans. Mine were done right around the 10 minute mark.
  • When the pecans are done, move very quickly to scrape them off the foil into a bowl, add in the butter and stir until butter is melted. Set pecans aside to cool and once they're cool, finely chop them. Once chopped, store in a ziploc bag or container until you're ready to use them.
    Note: You have to move quickly when the pecans are done baking, otherwise they will stick to the foil and be very difficult to remove.
    Note: To chop, I place pecans in a large ziploc bag and beat with a meat tenderizer or roll with a rolling pin.

For the Cupcakes:

  • When you're ready to start working on the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 standard muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. (If you want to make mini cupcakes, line a mini cupcake pan with paper mini cupcake liners, but I'm not sure how many total that would make. I did mine as a mix and it made 20 regular-sized cupcakes and 20 mini cupcakes).
  • Whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
  • Beat the sugars with the oil in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy (I found it was easier making these using my handheld electric mixer than with my kitchenaid stand mixer). Mix the eggs in, one at a time (beating well after each addition), then mix in the vanilla and then add the pumpkin puree and beat until thoroughly combined.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly, mixing on low speed just until everything is combined. Then, fill baking cups ~3/4 full and bake in the preheated oven for ~18-20 minutes for regular size, ~12-14 minutes for mini size, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit in the pan for ~5 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling racks to finish cooling. Allow cupcakes to cool for at least an hour or so before filling/decorating.
  • When you're ready to fill the cupcakes, remove your pecan pie filling from the refrigerator to let it soften a bit. Using either a cupcake corer (I have this one) or a paring knife, remove centers of cupcakes.
    Note: For mini cupcakes, I find they're easiest to do by hand with a paring knife. I do have a smaller cupcake corer (this one) but I think it's too small and haven't found a perfectly sized cupcake corer for the mini cupcakes.
  • Fill cupcake centers with pecan pie filling. Depending on how thick your filling ended up, you may be able to pipe it in (I would just throw it in a ziploc bag, cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag and pipe out of there - just make sure the hole is big enough for your chopped pecans to get out of). If it's too thick for that, spoon the filling in.

For the Frosting:

  • Place butter, powdered sugar and caramel into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and then beat together, starting on low speed (so sugar doesn't go everywhere) and gradually increasing speed until everything is combined and frosting is light and fluffy.
    Note: You may have to stop once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl and/or scrape the whisk attachment.
  • Add 1 cup of your chopped candied pecans and fold into the frosting with a spatula. If you're not ready to frost the cupcakes or for some reason the frosting isn't stiff enough for piping, stick the bowl with the frosting in the refrigerator for a bit.

For Decorating the Cupcakes:

  • You can either pipe the frosting on (which is how I did it for the photos), or you can make life much easier and use a large (4.25" diameter) ice cream scoop that has a trigger (this one is the one I have. I used for this technique with my Halloween cupcakes in the below photo). Just scoop your frosting, level it off using a metal spatula (or butter knife), then plop it on top of the cupcake. Then do some minor work after plopping the frosting on there, using the metal spatula or knife to flatten down a bit on top so the frosting reaches out to the edges of the cupcakes, and then to smooth around the sides and on top as needed.
  • Once the frosting is on the cupcakes, you can sprinkle more finely crushed candy pecan pieces on top and/or top the cupcakes with whole candied pecan halves, whatever strikes your fancy!

Notes

I find the best way to make these is to make the pecan pie filling, the caramel mixture for the frosting and the candied pecans for the frosting before making everything else. If you're going to be refrigerating the caramel mixture for the frosting (vs. sticking in the freezer), then I would highly recommend making all 3 of these parts (the pecan pie filling, the caramel mixture for the frosting and the candied pecans for the frosting) the night before you'll be making the cupcakes. It will significantly reduce stress relating to making these if you have those items ready to go.
The next day, you simply have to make the cupcakes and frosting, and fill/frost the cupcakes. It's definitely possible to make them all in one day, especially if you'll be freezing your caramel mixture for the frosting, but then it becomes an all-day event.