Vanilla-Pear-Walnut Muffins

Yeah, so I'm into fall now. Get your peeler and join me.

Thursday is muffin/bagel/bread breakfast day at my house. Sometimes I buy mini cinnamon raisin bagels and we eat them with strawberry cream cheese. Sometimes I make banana or pumpkin bread. And sometimes, if the stars align on Wednesday, I can really make something special, something like these muffins.

I give you an EXACT quote from Ginger: "Mmm-mmm! These muffins are the BEST I've EVER tasted." As we all know, 3-year-olds NEVER exaggerate. And I think that's all I need to say about these.

Vanilla-Pear-Walnut Muffins

Topping:
3 T sugar
2 T chopped walnuts, ground
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil or walnut oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 or 5 firm, ripe pears, 2 lbs total weight, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin cups with butter or nonstick cooking spray. To make the topping, stir together the sugar, walnuts and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. To make the muffins, in a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla until blended. Add the dry ingredients, stirring just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold in the pears and walnuts just until evenly distributed, no more than a few strokes. Take care not to break up the fruit. Do not overmix.

4. Spoon the batter into each muffin cup, filling it level with the rim. Sprinkle the muffins evenly with the topping.

5. Bake until golden, dry, and springy to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in to the center of a muffin should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter (or nutmeg butter.) Recipe says it makes 14 muffins but it made 19 for me. Go figure.

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma Muffins