Pralines & Cream Pecan-Caramel Muffins

These are amazing, completely decadent little cakes with a pecan-studded brown sugar batter, a caramel ripple, and a baked-in cheesecake layer topped with a pecan streusel. From Marcy Goldman's essential cookbook, "A Passion for Baking: Bake to Celebrate, Bake to Nourish, Bake for Fun". You can omit the Cream Cheese Topping and just make with the muffin batter topped with streusel.

• Ready In: 55 mins
• Yields: 12 large muffins

Ingredients

• Pecan Streusel Topping

• 1  cup  finely chopped pecans
• 2  tablespoons white sugar
• 1⁄2 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 3  tablespoons  butterscotch chips (optional) or 3  tablespoons  caramel-flavored bits (optional)
• 2  tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

• Cream Cheese Topping (optional)

• 6  ounces cream cheese
• 1  large egg
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1  teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Muffin Batter

• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1  cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 1⁄2 cup white sugar
• 1  large egg
• 2  teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1  cup buttermilk or 1  cup plain yogurt
• 2  cups all-purpose flour
• 2  teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄3 cup  very finely chopped pecans
• 12  squirts  butterscotch topping (optional) or 12  squirts caramel  ice cream topping (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange oven rack to middle position. Line a 12-cup large muffin pan with paper liners and generously spray liners with nonstick cooking spray. Place pan on a parchment paper—lined baking sheet.
2. For Pecan Streusel Topping, in a food processor, grind nuts, both sugars, and butterscotch chips, if desired, to make a fine meal. Add butter and pulse to blend. Put mixture into a mixing bowl. (This is a fine, gravelly streusel.).
3. Without cleaning food processor bowl, blend Cream Cheese Topping ingredients well and then spoon out into another bowl. For Muffin Batter, blend butter with both sugars in food processor until well blended; then add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add buttermilk, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nuts and blend well, making sure no unblended sugar or butter is stuck in bottom of bowl. Scoop some batter into each muffin cup, filling about half full. Squirt on some sundae topping. Spoon on some Cream Cheese Topping and then carefully add streusel.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until muffins seem firm to the touch when gently pressed with fingertips. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.