Pear Muffins

Moist, light and fluffy muffins, studded with juicy pear. They make a great morning or afternoon snack and are also the perfect lunchbox addition.

These  muffins are vegan, wfpb, sugar free, oil free and wholegrain.

I’ve been looking into ways of making wholemeal baking softer and less ‘grainy’ and I’ve finally discovered the secret. After noticing some muffins I had made were nicer the next day I came across this article on the kitchn. It says wholegrain flour needs time for the bran to hydrate.

There are two ways to do this. The first is to make your muffins the day before you want to eat them. The second way is to let the batter sit for at least 30 mins before baking. To prevent them from getting large holes it’s best to leave out the baking powder and soda while the batter sits. 

Yum

Pear Muffins

Recipe by:
Yield: Makes 12 muffins
Prep time: 40 mins (mostly hands off)
Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients

¾ c dates 1 ½ c wholemeal flour ⅓ c almond meal 1 ½ tsp cinnamon ½ c unsweetened soy yoghurt (or yoghurt of choice) 1 c water 1 tsp cider vinegar 1 large pear (1 - 1¼ cup when diced) 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda

Directions

  1. Start by soaking your dates. Put them into a bowl or large cup and cover with boiling water and leave for at least 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the wholemeal flour, almond meal and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
  3. When the dates have softened, drain them and add to your blender along with the yoghurt, vinegar and water* and blend until smooth.
  4. Add the blender mixture to the dry ingredients and mix.
  5. Peel and dice the pear and stir through the muffin mixture.
  6. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare your muffin tray.
  8. When the oven has just about reached the right temperature add the baking powder and baking soda to the bowl and mix through.
  9. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20-25 mins or until muffins are starting to brown and bounce back when lightly touched.

*Note: if you’re using tinned pear instead of fresh, you can use the juice from the tin instead of the water - just top it up with water so it’s 1 cup in total if needed.