First things first, get your oven ready. Preheat it to a cozy 350°F (175°C). While it's heating up, grab your muffin tin. You can either give the cups a good greasing or pop in some paper liners. Whatever you prefer!

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, toss in your softened butter and that lovely packed brown sugar. Now, cream them together. You can use an electric mixer if you like, or just a good old wooden spoon and some elbow grease. Mix until they are nicely combined and look like a smooth, sandy mixture.

Next, crack those eggs into a separate small bowl and give them a quick whisk with a fork. Pour the beaten eggs into your butter and sugar mixture, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until everything is fully incorporated. It might look a little separated at first, but keep going, it will come together!

Now for the dry stuff! Add in the ½ cup of all-purpose flour and the generous 2 cups of chopped pecans. Gently stir everything together until the flour is just combined and the pecans are distributed throughout the batter. Be careful not to overmix at this stage – just stir until you don't see streaks of dry flour anymore.

Spoon that delicious batter evenly into your prepared muffin cups. You want to fill them about two-thirds to three-quarters full. They don't rise a ton, but they get wonderfully dense and gooey.

Pop the tin into your preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. How do you know they're ready? Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean (maybe with a few moist crumbs attached, that's okay!), they're done! Don't overbake, or they might lose some of that gooey center.

Once they're baked to perfection, take the tin out of the oven. Let the muffins cool in the tin for just a few minutes – this helps them set up a bit. Then, carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you can wait that long!