Directions:

Make the Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

2. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

3. Add the butter, oil, sugars and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and beat until light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.

5. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.

6. Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter may look a little curdled, but that’s ok.

7. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.

8. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

9. Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Make the Filling
1. While the cupcakes bake and cool, make the pecan pie filling. Combine all the filling ingredients except the pecans in a saucepan. Heat over medium until it begins to boil, stirring constantly.

2. Allow to boil for 30 seconds, then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl.

3. Remove a 1/2 cup of the mixture and set in the fridge to cool completely. Add toasted pecans to the remaining mixture and stir to combine. Refrigerate the pecan pie filling until cool and thickened.

Make the Frosting
1. Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.

2. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.

3. Add the pecan pie filling that was set aside earlier and mix until well combined and smooth.

4. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Your buttercream should be a nice, pipe-able consistency, but you can add some cream, if needed.

Build the Cupcakes
1. To fill the cupcakes, cut out the centers of the cupcakes. You can use a cupcake corer or a knife. You can discard the cores, since you won’t need them.

2. Fill the centers of the cupcakes with one tablespoon of the filling for each cupcake.

3.Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 847. Sprinkle on some finely chopped pecans, if desired.