I’ve been on a bit of a muffin kick lately, if you haven’t noticed. You know, what with my Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, Banana Muffins and Lemon-Orange Blueberry Muffins that I’ve posted about recently. I love making healthy muffins for breakfast on busy mornings or tasty after school snacks. What I especially like is that I can choose the quality of the ingredients and know exactly what’s going into them.
This week’s Real Food Friday is for a muffin that is another one of our favorites: Pear Walnut Muffins. I’ve been making these for several years and they are just loaded with nutritious yumminess which is why I also call them POWER muffins. They have very little oil as their moisture comes from plain yogurt (I use regular or Greek) so they are a healthy muffin. Filled with diced pear and ground walnuts (sometimes I use pecans) they are a very moist muffin all around and I like to keep a stash on hand in the freezer. They heat up beautifully in the microwave from frozen–perfect for when we’re on the go!
I hope you’ll try them and that you like them too!
PEAR WALNUT POWER MUFFINS
Recipe originally from “Cooking Light“1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) carton plain fat-free yogurt
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups finely diced peeled pear
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons turbinado sugarPreheat oven to 400°.
Place walnuts in a food processor; process until finely ground.
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk. Stir in ground walnuts. Make a well in center of mixture.
Combine brown sugar and the next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a small bowl; add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in diced pear.
Spoon batter into 15 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle batter with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pans immediately. Place on a wire rack. Serve either warm or at room temperature.
Just a few simple ingredients is all it takes to whip up these muffins!
If you don't have a food processor you can grind the nuts in a blender or chop finely by hand.
Blend all the wet ingredients together in a measuring cup or small bowl. It will make it easier to incorporate into the dry mixture.
Diced pears ready to go. I don't peel my pears--we don't notice and it saves time (& waste!)
Sounds good! I love pears.