Pear Muffins

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I gone and done it again. Every time I swear to myself that this will be THE LAST TIME! But then in the heat of the moment, when my defenses are down, with such rational reasons running through my mind, I falter. I fall off the wagon, give into to the temptation. I have such good intentions how can it be wrong??? I blame it on Sam, really I can't be held responsible my actions with such temptations thrown at me around every corner. I'm way too weak! I know I've come here and confessed this many times before. I mean it each and every time. I WILL NOT buy more of a perishable item than I can use before it goes bad! I have good intentions and I reeeaally mean it at the time, but then I go into Sam's and what do they have there to taut me with, but the cutest little Seckel pears you've ever seen. I completely ignore the fact that they come in a 4 pound box. I'll make caramel dipped pears for that fruit tray I've got to make this week; is my rational. All the while ignoring the whole 4 pound thing. By the way, four pounds equals a lot of tiny pears.

 Caramel dipped baby pears, adorable!

So fast forward to later in the week. I did use about 8 of the pears for the fruit tray. They were in fact adorable dipped in caramel. Like little gleaming gems on my fruit and cheese tray. The only problem, I still had about 3 pounds of tiny pears left over. So still with good intentions, I planned to make a pear and apple crisp with the rest. Yeah well, you know what they say about good intentions! So today, when I finally got the chance to do a little baking, I realize the pears are way too ripe for a crisp. At this point they'd disintegrate to a soggy pulp if baked. Not so good for a crisp.  However, mushy fruit is great for muffins. So if you get one of those fruit boxes given to you over the holidays, here's a wonderful way to use up some of the pears.

Although I plan to try to be better in the future and not allow myself to be tempted by cuteness or a good bargain, I'm glad that I had to find a way to use the pears because these muffins are divine. They are very similar to a banana nut muffin, but with the delicate flavor of pear rather than the overwhelming flavor of banana.

Pear Muffins
(Printable recipe)
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely minced crystallized ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg -- beaten
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup melted butter -- cooled
1 cup mashed pear pulp -- (2 or 3 soft regular sized pears or 6-8 Seckel pears)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, F.

Mash the pears.

 Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

 

 

 Chop the pecans

Beat together milk, beaten egg, butter and lemon zest and crystallized ginger. Mix pears and nuts into flour mixture. Gently stir milk mixture into dry ingredients. Batter should be lumpy, not smooth. Do not over mix.

I used a silicon pan, but a regular muffin tin is fine.

Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, until tops are browned. Remove from pan immediately, and serve warm. If you have any leftovers, which I can't imagine, they can be kept a couple of days in an airtight container, or frozen.

Gorgeous Pear Muffins

Perfect with a bit of butter and a pipping hot cup of Twinings Apple Cinnamon  tea.