Pear Muffins Recipe

Pear Muffins

Pear Muffins Recipe

This pear muffin recipe creates the perfect, delicate, airy muffin with a slightly crunchy sugar crust topping. The delicious contrast in texture will make this your favorite muffin recipe.

Easy Pear Recipes

The secret to baking the best pear muffins is to use real butter (not oil) and milk. Butter gives off a better flavor when compared to oil, while milk creates a lighter muffin when compared to using sour cream, yogurt, and buttermilk.

Homemade Pear Muffin Ingredients

  • Pear: Pear is the star of the show. You can use fresh or canned pears. Canned pears will have more moisture and sugar if canned in syrup. Fresh pears should be diced into small pieces, so that they cook through during the baking process. You can learn more about the health benefits of pears in this article.
  • Flour: Flour is the glue that holds the ingredients together. Flour provides structure to keep the muffin shape. For flour substitutions, see below.
  • Baking powder: Make sure to use aluminum-free baking powder (aluminum consumption and cooking in aluminum have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease).
  • Salt: Salt enhances the flavors of the ingredients, and holds moisture in the muffin for proper texture.
  • Milk: Milk provides hydration to the dry ingredients, adds flavor and fat, activates leaveners (for rising), and holds the batter together while rising. For milk substitutes, see below.
  • Vanilla: Vanilla enhances the flavors of the ingredients, in addition to giving off its own flavor.
  • Honey: Honey gives flavor and texture to the muffins, while also bonding the batter together. Use local raw honey for nutritional and health benefits, and to avoid herbicides and chemicals applied to store bought sugar. The 3/4 cup of honey can be substituted for 1 cup of sugar (per dozen muffins) if desired.
  • Sugar: Raw sugar (also called Turbinado sugar), can be sprinkled on top of the muffins before baking. The sugar crystallizes in the oven, and gives a sweet crunchy shell to the top of the muffin. (Similar to a streusel topping, but not overwhelming.)
  • Butter: Butter provides moisture and flavor to the pear muffins. Butter provides the best flavor for muffins, however, substitute options are listed below.
  • Eggs: Eggs provide leavening, texture, and structure to the muffins. Substitute options for eggs are listed below.
  • Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds interest to the muffin taste. The rest of the ingredients tend to be a bit bland, so cinnamon will add a bit of pop to the flavor.

Equipment Needed to Make Pear Muffins

How to Make Homemade Pear Muffins

This recipe makes 12 delicious pear muffins. To make a small batch of 6 pear muffins, click the 0.5x. You can also make a large batch of 24 pear muffins by clicking the 2x box.

Pear Muffins Recipe

Pear Muffins

This recipe creates the perfect, delicate, airy muffin with a slightly crunchy sugar crust topping. The delicious contrast in texture will make this your favorite muffin recipe.
Please rate this recipe, it helps to grow the site and pays for more recipe development.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Cooling Time 15 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 12 muffins
Calories 260 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¾ cup honey
  • ½ cup butter (room temperature)
  • 2 large eggs
  • cups diced pears (about 4 medium pears, or 1 pint of canned pear slices (16 ounces))
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 6 teaspoons sugar (optional) (for crunch topping)

Instructions
 

  • Mix butter, milk, and sugar well, ensuring there are no clumps of butter.
    ¾ cup honey, ½ cup butter, ½ cup milk
  • Add eggs, and mix well.
    2 large eggs
  • Add remaining ingredients, leaving diced pears and flour for last. This makes mixing the batter easier and more thorough if mixing by hand.
    2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Add flour and mix, then mix in pears. Do NOT overmix, or your muffins will become dry tasting.
    2½ cups flour, 2½ cups diced pears
  • Grease the muffin pan (or use cupcake liners), and fill the muffin pan. Bake at 400 °F for 18-25 minutes. (Make sure the pan is in the center of the oven, to cook the muffins evenly.)
  • Sprinkle the optional sugar topping for crunch, and to promote a higher dome shaped muffin. Use about ¼ to ½ teaspoon per muffin.
    6 teaspoons sugar (optional)
  • Muffins are done when the tops of the muffins start to turn golden brown.
  • Allow the muffin pan to cool on a rack (allowing for cool airflow underneath the pan), for 15 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Pear Muffins
Serving Size
 
1 muffin
Amount per Serving
Calories
260
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
8.81
g
14
%
Saturated Fat
 
5.1
g
32
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
0.58
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
2.56
g
Cholesterol
 
51.81
mg
17
%
Sodium
 
196
mg
9
%
Potassium
 
102
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
 
42.49
g
14
%
Fiber
 
1.75
g
7
%
Sugar
 
20
g
22
%
Protein
 
4.32
g
9
%
Vitamin A
 
87
IU
2
%
Vitamin B1
 
0.04
mg
3
%
Vitamin B2
 
0.08
mg
5
%
Vitamin B3
 
0.42
mg
2
%
Vitamin B6
 
0.05
mg
3
%
Vitamin B12
 
0.14
µg
2
%
Vitamin C
 
1.35
mg
2
%
Vitamin D
 
0.28
µg
2
%
Vitamin E
 
0.36
mg
2
%
Vitamin K
 
2.1
µg
2
%
Calcium
 
74
mg
7
%
Iron
 
0.7
mg
4
%
Magnesium
 
10.94
mg
3
%
Phosphorus
 
78.31
mg
8
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Keyword Muffins, Pears
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Pear Muffin Recipe Substitutes

  • Fresh pear muffins: Fresh pears work great for this recipe, just be sure to dice them small so that they cook thoroughly. If you like the texture of pear skins, you do not have to peel them (just make sure they are fresh from your orchard). Store-bought pears have unhealthy pesticides and preservatives applied to the skins, so peeling store bought pears is recommended.
  • Canned pear muffins: Canned pears have more moisture than fresh pears, and also have a higher content of sugar when canned in syrup.
  • Ginger pear muffins: Ginger gives a bit of spice to the pear muffins. You can replace the cinnamon in the muffin recipe with ground ginger, or add it in addition to the cinnamon for delicious spiced muffins.
  • Oatmeal pear muffins: It is easy to make this muffins recipe a bit healthier by replacing 3/4 cup of flour with 3/4 cup of oats (per dozen muffins). Oats contain more minerals essential for health than all purpose flour. These minerals include magnesium, manganese, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, and fiber.
  • Pear breakfast muffins: Replace 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of oats (either dry for texture, or soaked in milk for texture similar to flour). Oats are higher in protein and fiber than flour, and reduces blood sugar spikes and crashes when compared to flour. Replace honey with maple syrup (real maple syrup also has nutritional benefits, which you can read about in this post). You can also add a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder to add additional protein to the muffins. Protein provides a steady and prolonged energy boost, perfect for breakfast on the go.
  • Gluten free pear muffins: For gluten-free recipes, you can replace the flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour in this muffins recipe. You may need to add 1.25 teaspoons of xanthan gum per dozen muffins, if it is not already blended in the flour.
  • Vegan pear muffins: You can easily replace the butter with oil, and the milk with almond milk in this muffins recipe. You can also replace each egg with 1.5 tablespoons of oil, 1.5 tablespoons of water, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
  • Autumn spice pear muffins: Add 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1.5 teaspoons of molasses, 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg for fall spiced muffins.

Other Pear Recipes:

If your pear tree is full of pears, check out our other pear recipes:

Pear FAQs

  • Pears are usually ready for picking by mid August, however, your location and pear varieties can alter when pears are ready for harvest. Pick pears before they are ripe, and allow for 1 to 2 weeks for ripening before use (at room temperature).
  • You can slow the ripening process by storing some of your pear harvest in the refrigerator, and pulling a couple of pears out for enjoyment as needed. (They will need a few days on the countertop to ripen.)
  • Once ripe, pears can be stored in the refrigerator for about 4 days before they become over-ripe and mushy (which is fine for this recipe).

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