Fresh and dried muffins are both used in this recipe for moisture and texture. Flavored with candied ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla extract these muffins make quite a tasty treat. Adapted from Starbuck’s Passion for Coffee, Ginger Pear Muffins is a refreshing treat that can be enjoyed for breakfast or snack and can also be served for dessert. This recipe also consists of all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, sugar, milk, and butter.

Muffins are a type of quick bread that uses baking powder or baking soda as a leavening agent instead of yeast. This means that after making the batter and mixing all the ingredients together in the correct order, you don’t need to wait for hours for the dough to rise. After placing the batter in the greased muffin tins, they are ready to bake and can be enjoyed warm and nice in no time. Some like to prepare the batter ahead of time then place it in the muffin tins, cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator so that the next morning, all they have to do is pop the muffins the oven and they have aromatic and fresh ginger pear muffins for breakfast.

One of the important things to remember when baking muffins is that the wet and the dry ingredients have to be combined separately at first and then gradually combined together. When they wet and dry ingredients are combined, avoid over blending the batter. They should be mixed just until all the dry ingredients are well moistened. A batter that is a bit lumpy is ideal as this allows air pockets that result in a lighter and fluffier muffins once baked. Too much mixing will lead to tough and dry muffins with tiny holes that make them dense.
12
10-15 min
18 min
Difficulty Level
Easy
Ingredients

4 oz. dried pears
1 ripe Bartlett pair
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1.2 teaspoon salt
1.2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
2.3 cup granulated sugar
1.2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup butter (melted)
½ cup finely chopped candied ginger

1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour the dried pears into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick oil or line with paper cups. Set aside.
2

Drain the dried pears and pat dry. Cut the dried pears into ½ in. pieces. Peel, core, and dice the fresh pear.
3

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
4

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, butter, ginger, dried pear, and fresh pear. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients a little at a time, stirring until just blended.
5

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then cool completely on a wire rack.

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