Pear & Walnut Muffins

Mr. P and I don't have a big appetite for sweet things but occasionally I do make us a little treat. Muffins are a great way to go for us because I can freeze them and they only need to be taken out to defrost on the counter overnight for them to be ready and waiting to accompany a nice cup of coffee the following morning.

This recipe, which I have changed into a wholewheat version, was posted by my friend Snowy on Violets' Pantry some time ago. It appealed to me straight away because I love both walnuts and pears, and they compliment each other so well. It's a combination I often use in salads. Today I saw I had a couple of pears needing to be used and so I decided it was time to finally give them a try.

I usually make muffins in paper liners but I've noticed that a lot of crumb gets stuck to the liner and so this time I decided to make them directly in the muffin tin. Although the tin is non-stick I greased the indents with soft butter and dredged over a little flour just to make doubly sure the muffins would pop out easily, which they did.

Well, they've cooled off now and I've just done a tasting .... wow, these little babies are very, very good. The crumb is nice and open, the walnuts give a lovely bit of crunch, and the chunks of pear lend a deliciously sweet and refreshing contrast. Most definitely a keeper recipe - thank you, Snowy!

As to not using muffin liners. I really like that I am able to just enjoy these without having to fiddle about peeling off the liner and scraping away at the stuck-on crumb! No contest, I'll be making my muffins without liners from now on.

Pear & Walnut Muffins - Makes 12

180ml milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large egg
225g wholewheat flour
2tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
150g demerara sugar
1 large firm but ripe pear
50g coarsely chopped walnuts
1-2 tbsp demerara sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6, and lightly grease and flour a12 hole muffin tin.

Put the milk, oil and egg in a small mixing bowl and whisk to blend. Set aside.

Remove the cores from the pears, leaving the skin on, then chop the flesh into 1cm pieces. Set aside.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and stir to combine. Now add the chopped pear and walnuts and toss to coat and distribute evenly throughout the mixture.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the egg mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Divide the mixture between the muffin cups, sprinkle with the extra sugar, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the muffins to cool for ten minutes in the tin before moving them to a cooling rack.