Delicious and Easy Pear Muffins

Name: Delicious and Easy Pear Muffins
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free flour blend); 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon; pinch nutmeg; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 large eggs (room temperature); 1/2 cup honey; 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted and cooled); 2/3 cup plain yogurt (room temperature); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 cups chopped pears (about 1/2" pieces); 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten free flour blend); 1/3 cup light brown sugar (or coconut sugar); 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 5 tablespoons cold butter (chopped); 1/2 cup chopped pecans

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These Pear Muffins are a delicious go-to breakfast or snack recipe. Especially in the summer and fall when pears are a-plenty at the grocery store. Read on to see what pears work best and how to make these muffins perfect every time!

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Single pear muffin with crumb topping sitting on cooling rack.

Pear Muffin Ingredients

For the muffin

All-Purpose Flour — Or a gluten-free flour blend, such as King Arthur Measure for Measure. You can read why that is our favorite mix here. Use the spoon and level method for proper measurements.
Ground Cinnamon — Such a delightfully warm counterpart to the sweet pears.
Pinch Nutmeg — A pinch is the amount you can get between your thumb and forefinger.

Baking Powder & Baking Soda — Gives the perfect amount of rise to help lift those heavy pears.
Large Eggs — Always at room temperature. See below for a tip on getting it to room temperature quick.
Honey — Our favorite way to sweeten muffins, like in our Healthy Banana Muffin Recipe.
Coconut Oil — Melted and cooled to room temperature. This can be replaced with vegetable oil or butter if you prefer.

Plain Yogurt — Again, be sure it is close to room temperature and see below for a tip to get it warmed quick. Sour cream can also work here, or even whole milk. Use what you've got on hand!
Vanilla Extract — Plenty of good vanilla extract lends a delicious flavor to muffins.
Chopped Pears — Cut into about ½" pieces. No need to peel pears because the skin is very soft and will get even softer when baked. See below for the best kinds of pears to bake with.

how to get room temperature ingredients — fast!

Eggs — speed up the process of getting eggs to room temperature by dropping them gently into a bowl or cup full of hot water (not boiling) and let sit 5 minutes. Done!

Yogurt or Milk — To get yogurt to room temperature quickly, simple place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 50% power in 15 second intervals, stirring each time.

Butter — the best way to soften butter to room temperature is to get a tall glass and fill with hot water. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the glass is hot. Empty the water and turn the glass upside down over the wrapped butter. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. this will gently warm the butter through to the center.

Ingredients for Muffin Crumble Topping

This topping is not necessary, however it elevates this muffin recipe to a sweet morning or evening treat and I love the texture with a slightly crisp top.

All-Purpose Flour or Gluten Free Flour Blend
Light Brown Sugar
Ground Cinnamon
Cold Butter — chopped into small pieces
Chopped Pecans - optional, but adds a great crunch and an extra dose of vitamins and fiber!

Pear muffins with pecan streudel or crumb topping. Delicious and moist recipe

What kind of pears work best for baking?

According to Good Housekeeping Anjou and Bosc pears work best for baking. They hold their shape well and are easier to peel (although we feel that peeling is unnecessary for this recipe). We like to use Anjou pears in these pear muffins because they're readily available and go on sale at the beginning of summer, plus they taste fantastic fresh or baked!

Dietary Restrictions? Try these easy recipe adjustments!

Gluten Free

If you're gluten free or making these for someone gluten sensitive, simply replace 1:1 with King Arthur Flour's Measure for Measure. You can read here about why Measure for Measure is my favorite.

Egg Free

Easily replace the eggs with my favorite flax seed and water substitute. 1 tablespoon flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoon of water for each egg. Whisk until the texture becomes "egg-like". See the egg replacement chart here at my Vegan Vanilla Baked Donut recipe.

Vegan Option

Replace the eggs with the flax seed mix mentioned above. The yogurt helps these pear muffins retain moisture and can easily be replaced with a nut-based yogurt or your favorite milk alternative. There are so many options available now. If you can only find flavored vegan yogurt, get vanilla, it will barely adjust the flavor.

The honey can be replaced with maple syrup or even just granulated sugar (make sure to get vegan granulated sugar though). The butter in the crumb topping can be replaced with any vegan butter substitute or chilled coconut oil.

Group of pear muffins sitting on black cooling rack.

How to Make Extra Large Bakery-Style Muffins

It's really easy to make these muffins like the ones you get at a bakery — big enough for a filling breakfast. Try using these 6 cup muffin pans and scoop batter evenly between all 6 cups. Increase the bake time to 425°F for 8 minutes and then reduce heat to 350°F for 15 minutes, checking center for doneness with a toothpick or fork.

Tips for How to make perfect Pear Muffins

First, chop those pears up nice and small. The perfect size is about ¼" square. Any larger and they start to weigh down the muffin and it has trouble rising.

Mix your chopped pears in with your flour mixture to keep them from sinking to the bottom.

Always gently fold dry ingredients into wet to keep your muffin texture soft. Over mixing will cause dry, tough muffins.

Scoop evenly using my favorite OXO 3 tablespoon scoop. Scooping like this will yield 12 perfect muffins.

Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes. This is key to a great rise. This causes these pear muffins to shoot upward. Then lower your temp to 350°F to fully bake the center.

Topping - Almost every muffin tastes better with a crunchy, sugary topping, and these pear muffins are no exception. It's optional, but really is better with it on top.

The Best Way to Store Muffins

The best way to store muffins is in a zip top bag lined with a paper towel. The paper towel will soak up any extra moisture and keep the muffins from "sweating" and getting sticky. They'll keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.

Can I Freeze Muffins?

Yes! Once muffins have cooled completely, place on a baking sheet, (if you used muffin liners, they can be left on) being sure they're not touching each other, and freeze for 30 minutes — this will make it easy to grab just one muffin at a time.

Once frozen, place in a zip top bag and then another zip top bag to keep muffins from freezer burn.

To reheat frozen muffins, pop one or two muffins in the microwave for about 15 seconds or until the center is warmed through. Top with butter and enjoy any time of day!

Equipment

No real special equipment is needed for this recipe, however, here are our favorite tools to help us make outstanding muffins every time. A hard-working muffin pan, these cute tulip baking cups that make muffins look professional, and my favorite OXO large scoop. This scoop will give you even muffins every time and takes the mess out of getting muffin batter into the liners.