Muffin Mondays!

In honour of English Muffin, and of Fall, and the simple fact that I love to bake muffins, I am hereby making Mondays "Muffin Mondays"!


We picked up some lovely pears at the market on Saturday and managed to make two pear inspired baked treats over the weekend, the first being a pear tart for our friend Jeff, and the second these delicious Pear and Walnut Muffins I'm going to share with you.


I must first say that these muffins would not have been possible without the generous toaster oven donation from our good friends Ben & Nina :) Our little euro-kitchen unfortunately did not come equipped with a luxurious Wolf oven. No worries though, thanks to these silicon muffin molds from Lurch, and my winning "can-do" spirit, the muffins were a yummy success!

Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Pear and Walnut Muffins

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: 12 and a bit

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup yogurt
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 large pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsly chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour muffin tin and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Mix in the yogurt gently. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the pear chunks, ginger and walnut pieces.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!