Monday, September 14, 2009

Pear and Ginger Muffins


An essential part of autumn is smell. Walking into a home where you can smell pumpkin spice, or an apple pie baking is really what autumn is all about for me.
These muffins are definitely one way to bring these aromas into your home.
The comforting pear scent will permeate your kitchen and taste buds alike with a sweet and slightly spicy scent, an appetizing autumn invitation.


I absolutely love pears; the ginger really intensifies the sweet pear flavor without overpowering it and the pears give the muffins a really luscious texture.

I've been eating these almost everyday for breakfast or as a snack; they even work perfectly when partnered with a good pungent cheese.

The pears I used were the first ones I bought this season from the green market. There are so many varieties of pears and honestly I love them all but I chose to use Bartlett pears this time, they're always very sweet.


Lovely pears at the Green market in Union square NY.
For more pictures from the market check out my Flickr.

Pear and Ginger Muffins: (adapted from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express)
(makes 12)
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar (and more for sprinkling)
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2/3 cup sour cream (I used Greek yogurt)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups small diced pear (peeled and cored)

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.


In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, white sugar, brown sugar and the ground ginger. Mix well to combine.



In another bowl whisk together the sour cream, oil, honey and eggs. Fold this in to the flour mixture.



Mix in the diced pear gently.

(Dice the pears right before you add them, or they will start to turn brown.)



Line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers and fill each muffin case with the mixture evenly.



Sprinkle the top of each muffin with brown sugar.

Bake in the oven for 20 mins at 400F



When the muffins are golden and baked through, remove and place on a cooling rack.



These are lovely when eaten warm.


They smell amazing! I need a candle that smells just like this :)


22 comments:

  1. Pear and ginger are definitely fall-flavors! I just made an apple-spice cake today, really got me into the autumn-mode!

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  2. oooooooh! they look amazing! I wih I could have one! I just bought 2kg of pears (from my boss' children trying to make extra pocket money haha) so might try your muffins very soon!

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  3. I had pear and chocolate muffins that were delicious once. I wish I had seen this recipe when I had pears coming out of my ears from my tree. I will have to try it!

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  4. Great flavors! I love pear and ginger. Beautiful photos, too. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Yum! I love that pear and ginger combo.

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  6. Oh goodness gracious do those look good! I LOVE pear and ginger together!

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  7. Love love love the greenmarket! My favorite. And these pear and ginger muffins are the ultimate fall muffin! Gorgeous!

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  8. Yes. I love ANYTHING by Nigella and this adaptation looks fantastic.

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  9. Lawsie me! These look good. A combo I don't think about but will be trying these soon. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Wonderful recipe! Pears are perfect right now.

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  11. How would these be if you added some chopped crystalized ginger to the batter? I love all things ginger, and throw crystallized ginger into everything that I can. ;)

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  12. Absolutely! I see no reason why you couldn't! I add some walnuts to it sometimes. :)

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  13. I've never combined these flavors, but they sound delicious together. They definitely remind me of fall :). Pears don't get used enough in muffins, so happy to see them here!

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  14. YUMMMMMMM! This is my kind of muffin! They look delicious. But I'm such a bad baker...

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  15. These look delicious ~ will definitely be printing this recipe out. I am sending a friend to visit your blog ~ she will love it! :)

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  16. oh these look delicious. Ginger and pear is really interesting . I love Nigella's recipes too.

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  17. these look super yum! (: thanks for the recipe! im going to try this soon!

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  18. pear and ginger - great flavor combination. sooo perfect for autumn!! thank you!

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  19. I love pear and will find any way to incorporate it. This sounds so lovely!

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  20. Just made this recipe from the Nigella Express cookbook. I almost burned my apartment down! 20 minutes at 400F? The flavor is delicious, but unfortunately they are not pretty enough to serve with burned edges.

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    Replies
    1. I'm very sorry that your muffins burnt. I have made these muffins a lot and they always turn out lovely and not burnt at all. Muffins are usually made at a temperature between 350/400 degrees Fahrenheit.

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