Poached Pear Ginger Muffins
I have had some fun in the sun this month, and am currently paying for it with a horrible peeling sunburn. Makes me feel somewhat hypocritical when I’m talking to patients about cancer risk. In my defense, I used a whole bottle of sunscreen but that Central American direct sunlight is a force to be reckoned with.
When I returned from Santa Barbara earlier this month, my car was covered in inches of snow and I had to use a New England Journal of Medicine issue to brush the snow off because I’ve managed to avoid ever needing a scraper (probably dumb, should have bought one). When I returned from Belize and Scottsdale, it had at least warmed up a little but we’ve had days of April showers and it’s felt a lot like fall.
April showers, fall flavors? One of my attendings requested baked goods this week and he picked the chocolate chips out of the last banana bread bundt cake (cray, the chocolate chips are the best part), so I needed to bring something of the less-sweet variety. These muffins did not disappoint! Again sourcing from my tried and true Huckleberry cookbook, I have not yet been let down by one of their recipes. My only comment on their recipes is that the oil can usually be cut down with much success and the published baking times are unfailingly too short in my oven. Once I learned this, baking out of this book has been a breeze!
- 3 medium pears, peeled and diced
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 pinch kosher salt, plus 3/4 tsp
- 1 large pinch ground cinnamon, plus 1 tsp
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup + 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp molasses
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- Zest of 1 orange
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with 20 paper liners, spacing evenly between the pans.
- Combine the prepared pears, sugar, pinch of salt, and pinch of cinnamon in a small saucepan. Pour two cups of water and stir to mix spices evenly. Cover and cook over high heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Strain the fruit, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid and refrigerate both until cool.
- Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, cloves, and remaining salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together pear cooking liquid, canola oil, molasses, maple syrup, eggs, and orange zest. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix and whisk together until smooth. Fold in cooked pears.
- Pour into a large liquid measuring cup for easier distribution, and pour into the muffin tins. Fill each a little more than 3/4 of the way full. Bake 17-20 minutes until the muffins just barely spring back to the touch.
- Sift powdered sugar over top once muffins have cooled for decoration if desired.