Muffins are one of my favorite things to bake. They are quick, easy and good to eat any time of day. Plus they are already individual servings. Kid friendly. Portable. I could go on forever, but I think you get the idea.
Inspired by my coconut chocolate chip pear tea cake recipe and using various ingredients I found when stocking the new pantry I came up with this recipe. Everyone in the family loves pears and they are still pretty good from the store. My problem is they don’t last in the house so I usually don’t get a chance to bake with them.
I was lucky enough to find ripe pears at the store and used them that day before the boys even got home! Add in some almond meal and sliced almonds I found in the pantry and almond pear muffins here we come.
My spice of choice for pears is ginger. The smell and flavor are wonderful. Then of course I had to add some dark chocolate. Do I really need to explain that?! My favorite dark chocolate bar is pear almond. Yes, I had a bar of it in the pantry. No, I wasn’t about to chop it and put it in the muffins. I do not share that with the boys!
As soon as Jack and Ewan walked in the door after school they asked what I baked. The house smelled wonderful! They thoroughly enjoyed their muffins. Jack asked if he could write down the recipe so we could make them again. Have I mentioned he announced he wants his own food blog?! Whether for breakfast, after school snack or with a cup of tea these muffins will hit the spot.
Almond Pear Muffins with Dark Chocolate
2 c. white whole wheat flour
1/4 c. almond meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 medium ripe pears, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
Sliced almonds and raw sugar for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a muffin pan or fill with muffin cups. Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Cream the brown sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, vanilla and eggs and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the pears and chocolate chips. Fill the muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Yields: 12 muffins
Feeding My 3 Sons 
Yum, what a delicious combination, I love pears with almonds but have never added dark chocolate to the mix. Thanks for the inspiration Gretchen
I almost made them gluten free since I also had chickpea flour and coconut flour in the pantry. I wasn’t in the mood to experiment though so opted for the white whole wheat. I’m sure you can come up with something brilliant!
Yes to pears, ginger and well-executed creativity.
Yes to chef Jack’s blog.
Lovely post, Gretchen
I had to fight Jack of the last muffin so Josh could actually get one! We’ll see about Jack’s blog…..
The muffins sound delicious! I would love to make them but wonder if I can cut down both the sugar and the butter? I am aware that altering the ratio of sugar, fat, flour changes the texture of the finished article so I am rather wary about mucking about with the ingredients. Thanks for a great blog, Gretchen
It’s always nice t experiment around. The butter is relatively easy to cut down, I usually substitute more yogurt for that. I would think you could cut down the sugar by at least 1/4 cup without much texture change. There’s no way to know unless you start experimenting.
Gretchen, are you using shortcode for your recipe box? I know WP doesn’t allow plugins.
Yes I started using a code for the recipes. The plan is to self host whenever if find the time! Until then I found the code for recipes and in my spare time should go back and add it to all my posts!
Gretchen, that sounds daunting. I vote to just keep moving forward to show the evolution of your blog. 🙂 Are you using this: https://en.support.wordpress.com/recipes/ ??? Thanks!
Yes that’s it!
Pears don’t last long in our house either 🙂 These muffins look so delicious Gretchen! I have never had a pear muffin and will have to try yours out. I bet you were touched when he said he wanted his own food blog..how sweet!
A perfect combination of flavors as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks Karen, it is certainly one of my favorite flavor combinations!
These sound so good, Gretchen! I still remember what it was like to come home on a cold winter’s day to find that Mom had baked something for us. Raisin-cinnamon bread was here specialty. Take my word for it. Those memories don’t fade. You’re giving your boys so much more than muffins.
I would love coming home to the smell and taste of cinnamon raisin bread too! It is funny the things you remember when your are older, food definitely triggers many memories for most folks.
I have to try these. They sound amazing! xx
Definitely a great flavor combination and worth trying!
I gotta try these!!! Yum!
Let me know how it goes!