Pear and Granola Muffins

I have sat down to work on this blog post for weeks. Yes. Weeks. It first started with those pears I got from my in-laws at the end of August. We had so many pears from their pear tree that I didn’t know what to do with them all. I started looking up every pear recipe I could find. I spent hours scrolling through Pinterest, and pulled out every single cookbook I owned, carefully flipping to the letter “P” in the index to find anything pear related. Surprisingly there are not that many pear recipes out there, at least in cookbooks anyways.

When I did find some recipes that looked pear-fect, I immediately started cooking and baking and eating and tweeking said recipes and then cooking, baking and eating them again. When I found some winners, I sorted through my dishes and props and pulled out my camera to click. Click. Click. Then rearrange everything, adjust the camera settings and try again. Then upload all 548 pics (of one recipe) and painstakingly sort through each and every one, picking out the top 3-4 best to edit.

Then there is all the typing. Typing the recipe and then thinking of the best words and story to articulate how said recipe makes you feel; because you know all recipes must mean something or make you remember someone or some time in your life.

And then upload everything and shout from the roof tops on every social media plat form… “Hey!!! Look at this recipe! You gotta make it stat! Or OMG! Your life will be forever boring!”

So, yes, that all takes weeks because it seems like everything in my life takes forever right now. That I am doing so much, that to do one thing has to be broken down in stages. 10 minutes here or 45 minutes there over the course of several weeks.

And that my friends, in a dramatic nutshell, is my blogging process. In case you EVER wanted to know.

And all that just to share some muffins. Oh yeah, I remember now what even got me started on this long tangent! I had planned on sharing these on Monday and writing some cute blog post about Muffin Monday, but of course, it has taken me like a million extra minutes to finish this blog post, so it is no longer Monday, but in fact Thursday, and I am just now finally ready to share.

Weeks. People. Weeks.

Oh yeah…. back to the muffins (Maybe it takes weeks because of my lack of focus? IDK.). I love a good pear or apple crisp because of the crunchy crumble topping; and love this muffin twist. These muffins are studded with bits of pear, full of warm spices and have a perfect crunchy topping with the help of crispy granola! Maybe I can make #MuffinTopThursday a thing?
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One Year Ago: Mega Monster Munch Popcorn {Ghoulish Grub}
Two Years Ago: Graveyard Pudding Pie
Three Years Ago: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Four Years Ago: Eyeball Cookies and Ghost Cookies  
Five Years Ago: Espresso Brownies
Six Years Ago: Sesame Crackers

Pear and Granola Muffins 
Prep Time: 20 minutes Bake Time: 18-20 minutes Yields: 12-14 muffins
Printable Version

Ingredients:
For Muffins:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3-4 Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 2 cups)
¾ cup plain granola

For Granola Crisp Topping:
1 cup plain granola
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cubed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and whisk just until combined. Gently fold in the granola and pears. Divide batter evenly among lined muffin cups, filling each approximately 3/4 full. Set aside. 

To make granola crisp topping, in a bowl, toss together granola, flour and packed light-brown sugar. Add cubed butter to granola mixture, and using a fork or your fingers, cut butter into granola mixture until clumps form.

Sprinkle muffin batter with granola topping.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in muffin tin before removing to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Other recipes you might enjoy:
Spiced Pear Crumb Cake
Pear Crisp Oatmeal
Honey Pear Muffins
Easy Pear Crisp with Vanilla Bean Frozen Yogurt