Whole Wheat Pear Muffins

Over the holidays I bought pears for a fruit tray. The fruit tray never happened and then the pear's skins went all brown. The pears themselves were still delicious, but how do you put a scary pear in your child's lunch? I decided I needed to use them in baking, so I scanned through some Pinterest recipes and found this one. I'm really pushing less refined foods and healthy eating this year, so the fact that they were whole wheat really caught my eye. These are gorgeous muffins! I didn't put the strudel on top as I wanted them for school lunches. The less mess the better -- for me and the teachers :o). The smell emanating from the oven was incredible!! It's a good thing I'm on a (mostly) wheat free streak right now because I likely would have brewed a big pot of coffee and eaten two of them ;o)! The original recipe is from Erika's Kitchen and found here, so please pin it from her blog if you choose to pin it.

Whole Wheat Pear Muffins

by Erika Penzer Kerekes September-25-2012

Made with ripe fresh pears and white whole wheat flour, these muffins are hearty, healthy and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup grapeseed or canola oil
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large or 3 small ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, 1 cup of the brown sugar, and oil until smooth.  

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Dump the dry ingredients into the bowl with the egg mixture. 

With a wooden spoon or spatula, gently mix together just until combined. Add the vanilla and diced pears and mix again.Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, dividing it evenly among the cups. 

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 2 Tbsp brown sugar and the cinnamon; sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top of the batter in each muffin cup. 

Bake the muffins about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs (but no raw batter) clinging to it. (If you're making mini-muffins instead, start checking them after 12 minutes.) 

 Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then take them out of the muffin pan and cool them the rest of the way on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Details:

Prep time: 15 mins  
Cook time: 20 mins 
Total time: 35 mins 
Yield: 12 muffins or 24 mini-muffins