- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup applesauce, preferably homemade
- ¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 10 pecan halves
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease 10 regular muffin cups or line them with paper liners.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir well and set aside.
- In another bowl, beat the egg and the sugar together until well combined. Stir in the melted butter, sour cream, vanilla, and applesauce.
- Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, and stir with a woodern spoon until just combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full with batter. Top each muffin with a pecan half. Bake in the center of the oven until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out just clean, 20 minutes.
- Cool the muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then unmold them onto a rack to cool completely.