Mystery Meals: Pecan Pie Muffins

As I search through my grandmother’s recipe box for a mystery item to make, I have come to realize how many of my options either don’t have instructions or better yet, simply say, “Prepare as usual.” This shows just how ingrained many cooking methods were in past generations. Since it is the holidays I wanted to make something festive and I knew these muffins would be great… if I could figure out the instructions. Also, the fact that the recipe is written on a notepad that says, “Give safety the green light in ‘71” (OSHA reference?) made me love it even more. As with all of these that I have attempted thus far, I was skeptical that this was going to have structural integrity because these muffins have very little flour as compared to the amount of butter and sugar.

I could see that Grandmother had made a note to blend the butter and eggs together which is quite a difficult task unless the butter is melted but it didn’t tell me to melt it so I didn’t. I eventually gave up and creamed it with the sugar and hoped for the best. There was another bit of instructions towards the bottom of the page but I couldn’t make it out so I just winged it.

Once everything was combined it vaguely resembled cat vomit which seems to be what all of these old recipes look like prior to cooking. I decided to do silicone muffin cups because I still didn’t think these would firm up enough to easily unmold but I was wrong. These little muffins came out beautifully and tasted delicious. My grandmother used to always make a wonderful pecan pie but I’ve not found her recipe and I haven’t had it in over a decade. These brought back those memories. They aren’t quite as sweet, which I prefer and I’m guessing that is the lack of Karo but they are quick and easy to throw together and would be perfect for Christmas morning or a festive brunch. They even have that stickier, gooey bottom layer that pecan pie has with a crisper top. This is the first of these recipes that I will definitely consider making again. What a lucky find!