Pear Muffins

In a sad but true realization I am separated from my smoker this week, even though I have 3 racks of ribs in the freezer, the smoker is a city away and I will not be smoking anything this week.  So not wanting to let anything go to waste and in true Digital Chef style, we had some pears and it was not until I got into baking the muffins that I realized I did not have any ginger, so let the substitutions begin.

I started out with a recipe I found at Recipe Girl for Pear and Ginger Muffins, but like I said once I got started I realized we have no ginger here.  I debated running home and getting some but decided to wing it and use some cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves.  So as precise as I can recall here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients
1 3/4 c flour
3/4 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar plus extra
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 c sour cream
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey
2 eggs
3 pears peeled, cored and cubed
ground nutmeg
ground cinnamon
ground cloves

Instructions 
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Put paper muffin cups in a 12 cup muffin pan.  Mix together flour, sugar, 1/2 c brown sugar, baking powder, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix together oil, sour cream, eggs and honey.  Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir in pears.  Pout into muffin cups.  Mix a small amount of ground cloves, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg with a couple tablespoons of brown sugar and sprinkle over muffins.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

Sadly along with my smoker, I do not have my camera so you are going to have to take my word.  They are fine looking muffins, something even a coffee shop would be eager to sell.  And well they kinda fall apart right out of the oven not like a bad fall apart but like you would want from a fresh out of the oven muffin.  Besides having an incredible texture they were moist and the fruit was just right.

Now for the real question, the question of the hour, how did they taste?  Well they taste like muffins, when I make them again I will probably add a little more seasoning but they were good.  The pears had a great flavor and were complimented nicely by the muffin.

I can’t wait to make these again.  Next time I will do a batch like this and one with ginger like the original recipe called for.  There is something about ginger and pears that just belongs, so I can’t wait to try that.