There are people who like big muffins. What's not to love about a warm, sweet crumbly muffin the size of Texas? I completely understand. I used to like my muffins double size too . . . then I had kids.
There is hardly anything more soul crushing than slaving over a recipe in the kitchen only to serve it to ungrateful little eaters who take one bite and dribble the rest under their chairs. For a while there, every single time I made a batch of muffins, I was cleaning up at least half of every muffin, crumbled to unrecognizable pieces, underneath the kitchen table after every serving.
Since I can't trade in the rascally kids for better eating models, and I love muffins too much to stop baking them, I came up with a solution to the problem: mini muffins. These bite size morsels contain all the goodness of a jumbo muffin in just one bite! The kids will eat them without all the crumbles and I still get to enjoy a warm muffin from time to time. With mini muffins, everybody wins!
These particular spiced pear muffins are some of my favorites. The pears not only add a flavorful sweetness to the muffin, they almost melt in your mouth when the warm muffins come out of the oven. The granola on top gives a little extra crunch, and the spices pair perfectly with the fruit.
Since trading in the jumbo muffin pan more often than not for the mini muffin tin, I've discovered a couple of things about the smaller muffins. First, muffins are muffins, which is to say, they taste great no matter the size. Also, because they are mini, I get to have seconds (and sometimes thirds too), which may not actually be as much muffin as a jumbo muffin, but it feels delightfully indulgent!
Keep a batch of these mini muffins in the freezer and easily reheat them for breakfasts on the go, lunchbox treats, after school snacks, and a mid-afternoon pick-me-up for mom too!
Need more ways to use up a big pear harvest? Try Tracy's pear butter and Emily's Walkers Shortbread mini apple and pear crisps too.
Spiced Pear Mini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups spelt flour, or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of nutmeg
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large pear, firm, but ripe, peeled, cored, and diced
- 1 cup granola, for topping
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a mini muffin tin and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, egg, milk, and honey.
- Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Pour in the milk mixture and stir to combine, being careful not to over mix. Gently fold in the diced pear.
- Spoon a heaping tablespoonful into each mini muffin cup. Top the muffins with the granola.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until muffins are golden and spring back when touched.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
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