I wish you could smell these muffins cooling on my counter right now. Better yet, I wish you could actually be here in my kitchen right now. Because then we could sit down with mugs of coffee and one muffin each, and break off nutmeg-scented nibbles as we trade stories about our day.
These muffins might just be one of my crowning achievements. They are solidly in the middle of the muffin spectrum, neither so sweet that they could pass for cupcakes nor so healthy that they stop tasting like a treat. They have a bit of white flour and a bit of wheat, a bit of table sugar and a bit of brown. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger bring some spicy warmth while a splash of vanilla lingers hauntingly in the background.
And the pears! Quite possibly my favorite fall fruit. Use ones that are just starting to go soft and juicy. These will hold their shape during cooking and turn jammy pockets that dissolve in your mouth. If the pears aren't good when you go shopping, you can use apples or any other firm-fleshed fruit. And if you want to throw in a handful of chopped nuts, I won't say no.
Makes 12 muffins
1/2 cup (4 oz) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (2oz) white sugar
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1 cup (5 oz) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) milk
2 to 2 1/2 cups pears, unpeeled and diced small (2 medium-sized pears, about 11 oz whole)
Cinnamon-and-Sugar for sprinkling on top
Optional: 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Heat your oven to 425°F. Spray the top of your muffin tin with non-stick coating and place muffin cups in all the wells.
In a mixer on high speed, cream together the sugars and the softened butter until they resemble fluffy frosting, about 1 minute. Mix in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, about 1 minute each. Mix in the vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, mix 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture followed by 1/3 of the milk. Continue alternating between the flour and the milk, mixing just until the flour is incorporated. It's ok if there is still some flour on the sides of the bowl. Do not over-mix.
Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and stir gently to incorporate the last of the flour. Add the diced pears all at once and fold them into the batter.
Divide the batter between the muffin cups. The batter will fill the cups and mound slightly on top. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar.
Place the muffin tin in the oven and immediately turn down the heat to 400°F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan once in the middle of baking. The muffins are done with the tops looked cracked and toasted, and when a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool enough to handle, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Leftover muffins can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days or frozen for up to three months. (Reheat frozen muffins in an oven or toaster oven at 300° or for a few minutes in the microwave)
Related: Beyond Muffins: 8 New Ideas for a Handheld Breakfast
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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I have two pears on the counter just waiting to be turned into yummy muffins! Yea!
these sound and look so yummy, I'm going to try them gluten and casein free with buckwheat flour, my white gluten free blend, and rice milk and see what turns out! I love pears!
so so yummy and beautiful, crisp photos! i want one of these w/my tea right this very moment.
I wish I were in your kitchen right now too.
But how do you do it--when I have soft & juicy pears I just have to eat them! They would never make it into muffins.
When do you add the sugar/butter mix to the flour/milk/pear mix? Am I missing something??
The scent of pears takes me to Sicily where I discovered gorgeous Abbe Fetel that are lovely with ricotta and orange blossom honey. I think I'll drizzle these muffins with a bit of honey. Yum. Thanks for the inspiration.
Here's a link http://www.carolegbert.com/ortigia
Made these last night. They turned out great. I thought the process was a little fussy for muffins but it did produce lovely, mounded tops. A word to the wise--I used the same amount of apples as pears without stopping to consider that my large, Golden Delicious apples were nearly twice the size of pears. I almost panicked when I added the fruit in, but did my best to divide fruit and batter among the cups and they actually came out great! Enough batter to hold them together and plenty of tasty fruit. So you could safely up the fruit if that's your thing.
@Katie-Ch - The sugar-butter mix is already in the mixing bowl when you start beating in the flour mix and the milk. I've adjusted the recipe text to make it a little more clear!
Ah! I separated the wet and the dry.... then put them together, so it worked out.
Until I realized my pears were rotten. Luckily I had apples, so it worked out.
Until the dog ate them all off the counter when I was at work and my BF left to take out the garbage.
I made these yesterday to wake my husband up to for his birthday! He smelled them about 10 minutes into the baking and couldn't wait to have them. I had him guess what I was making and his mind went everywhere, but he'd never guess Pear Muffins!! When I told him after he devoured two in under a minute, he was stunned with amazement!!! He absolutely adored the muffins and has already told all his buddies they have to try them!
Ps--I ran out of unsealed butter, so I did salted and didn't add any additional salt. Also, I thought I had Nutmeg but I didn't, so I did one half teaspoon of cloves instead! Worked great!!
Thanks so much for sharing this!!!
Sorry unsealed butter = unsalted butter (auto word correct on iPad)!
mine came out pretty dense and seem to need more sugar. i'm not a sugar freak but they just seemed to be lacking.
I made these this weekend and they were very good, but they kind of fall apart once you remove them from the muffin cup/cut them in half. Maybe another egg or some yogurt could act as more of a binder? They're not overly dry, but they're just crumblier than most muffins.
I did add a couple teaspoons of ground flaxseed, but I highly doubt that small amount was the contributor to the crumbliness, as the recipe says you can add up to a quarter cup of chopped walnuts, which would have a similar effect as flax. Plus I've often added a bit of ground flaxseed to other muffin/scone/pancake recipes without any adverse effects.
Anyway, good recipe overall, and I may try it again with apples! :)
I ditto the previous comment: I made the recipe and followed it diligently (which is more than I might say for some of my other baking). I and my co-tasters found the muffins wonderfully spiced but very, very dry. They were definitely crumbly, and but the dryness made them fall short of their potential. I will make them again, but will add more milk or applesauce to make them more moist.
Yum!!! I made these yesterday using half buckwheat flour in place of the whole wheat. That's what was in the pantry - but I actually think the muffins may have come out less crumbly. Also added a tiny bit more sugar and a bit more milk until the dough looked right. HUGE hit with the family. Thanks!
Just to confirm - you are not supposed to peel the pears before you dice them and put them in? I've never cooked with unpeeled fruit before, so I wanted to make sure I read it correctly.
I made these and they came out great! I made a few minor changes. I used whole wheat pastry flour rather than regular whole wheat. I used buttermilk instead of milk. Probably the best change though was that I hade some left over roasted pears (roasted with cinnamon and vanilla) and I chopped them up very finely. They came out light, moist, prettily domed and very tasty!
This looks delicious! I just pinned it!
Taking the other comments to heart, I added probably 1/3 cup sour cream and used 11/2 cups white flour and only 1/2 cup whole wheat. They're delicious and my toddler loved them! Didn't think they needed more sugar at all...
made recipe as posted 3 times now. Kids adore them. A nice change from our usualy banana nut muffins and a wonderful way to use up the 'ugly' pears that nobody will eat. No once can see your flaws in a muffin!
Made these muffins last night- and they turned out so great! Added a little more butter (because what could be wrong with that?) and they came out of the tin perfectly.
One thing I noticed about the recipe is that for the flour measurements it says 1 cup all purpose (5 oz) isn't it 8 oz? Not a huge deal, but for a moment I wasn't sure if you meant 1 cup flour or about a half cup flour.
Thanks for the post! :)