Pear and Oatmeal Muffins

It is pear season. While apples seem to get more attention, pears are a wonderful, versatile fruit.

Pears will ripen off the tree and are often picked unripe and allowed to ripen after harvest. Unlike a lot of other fruits, pears do not suffer from being picked before they are ripe. As they ripen, pears become very sweet.

I like to pick out both ripe and unripe pears at the local market. That way, I’ll have ripe pears over a longer period of time.

I had some ripe pears and wanted to do something with them. Since I had a friend coming for over breakfast, I thought muffins. It’s always nice to have an easy breakfast option on hand.

I started with a basic muffin recipe, and added some diced pears, cinnamon, orange zest, nutmeg  and a cinnamon sugar topping, to make them special. And yes, you could substitute apples for the pears!!!

I was really happy with how they turned out. Not overly sweet, moist and tender.  Here is the recipe.

Pear and Oatmeal Muffins

1 ½ c. flour
1 c. rolled oats
1 T. grated orange peel
2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
½ t.  each nutmeg and salt
½ t. baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. oil
¼ c. orange juice
1½ cups of peeled, diced pears – 2 or 3 pears should do it
2 T. melted butter, optional
cinnamon sugar, optional

Combine flour with the dry ingredients. Set aside. Combine egg with the honey, oil and juice. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until flour is just moistened. Fold in pears. Batter will be thick. Divide batter among 12 greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 375- degree oven for 20-25 minutes. While the muffins are warm, dip tops in melted butter and then dip in the cinnamon sugar, if you like. They are tasty, with or without the cinnamon sugar topping, but I like to add this last step. Makes 12.