Fresh Ginger & Pear Struesel Muffins

October 14th, 2012 | Breads, Sweets | 0 Comments

Ahhhhhh. The weather finally got a little cooler this week. Cool enough to even fathom the idea of turning on my oven to do some baking anyway. Its crazy because once the weather turns in the fall, all I can really think about is baking....and it doesn't matter what so long as there's flour, sugar and spice!

Yesterday it was these ginger and pear muffins inspired by the huge heap of pears sitting on my counter. I wasted half of my stash on this crummy pear upside down cake that looked gorgeous but was so dry and dense that I couldn't even finish one whole slice. Bluuuh.

{Yes, yes I do make things that don't always turn out}. The cake was a heckuva lot more appetizing to look at than these muffins, but I can tell guarantee you that what these little nuggets lack in aesthetics, they more than make up for in the flavor department.

I'm pretty sure my kids' teachers will be getting these as a schmooze offering in the next couple of weeks. Make them for someone you love.... or feel the need to establish a favorable repoire with.... or maybe just yourself because you simply cannot get enough of the sweet smell of cinnamon and vanilla baking at 350....

Recipe makes about 12 regular-sized muffins and takes about 45 minutes to put together (not including cooling time).

Ingredients:

2 large ripe pears, dced into 1/4" pieces
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1/3 cup of milk {I used whole}
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs

For the topping:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to Convection Bake at 350 degrees.

Grease and flour {or spray with baking spray} a regular sized muffin tin with at least 12 cups; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.

In another small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, lemon and orange zest; set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, fitted with the paddle attachments, cream together butter and sugar for about 1 minute until pale yellow and fluffy.

Add each egg, mixing completely after each addition.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the mixer and beat until incorporated; then follow with 1/3 of the milk mixture and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk mixtures until all has been incorporated.

Remove the paddles and gently fold in the pears and fresh ginger.