Oatmeal Pear Muffins
You’re going to love these oatmeal pear muffins! Just think of a tasty poached pear in muffin form. They are seriously delicious and moist. With juicy bites of fresh pears, a scant taste of cloves and some sweet cinnamon these muffins are the perfect grab and go breakfast. If you’re not in a hurry enjoy one with your morning tea or coffee.
Everyone loves a good oatmeal muffin, they’re a bit healthy and a bit naughty. With warm spices of cinnamon and cloves they are perfect for a cool winter morning (well any morning to be honest). If you happen to have a pear tree then Autumn would be the perfect time to whip up a batch or two of these. They freeze really well, so if you do have an abundance of pears, why not make a few batches and freeze some for later.
If you don’t have any pears you can always substitute apples in this recipe but if you do then I suggest to omit the ground cloves. Cinnamon and apples are a perfect pairing and cinnamon and cloves are a perfect combination with pears. Those are common spices seen in poached pears.
I know you may be thinking that ripe pears will go mushy, trust me they do not. Don’t be tempted to use underripe pears, they really do need to be ripe and juicy! An underripe pear will not be juicy and will likely still be hard after baking.
I have used regular rolled oats in my oatmeal pear muffins but quick cooking oats work just as well. Use what you have on hand. The recipe card below says quick cooking, that’s just because it is often what people buy. I prefer the extra texture of a slow cooking rolled oat.
Finish off these tasty muffins with the streusel topping for a complete experience.
Freezing Oatmeal Pear Muffins:
These muffins freeze really well. Just let them cool completely then place in an airtight container or freezer safe bag (in one layer) then place in your freezer. Take as many out as you need and let them thaw on the counter for an hour. Alternatively you can thaw them in your microwave as needed. These oatmeal pear muffins will freeze nicely without affecting the taste or texture for 3 months.
Oatmeal Pear Muffins
Equipment
- 1 standard muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1½ cups quick cooking rolled oats *you can use regular oats as well
- 1½ cups buttermilk *or soured milk. See tip in comments
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 Large eggs, fork-beaten
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 3 small pears, peeled and diced
Topping
- ¼ cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 2 Tbsp Brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine 1½ cups quick cooking rolled oats and 1½ cups buttermilk, stir and let sit for 10 minutes
- In a large bowl combine the 1½ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup brown sugar, lightly packed, 1½ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cloves, 1½ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp baking soda, ¾ tsp salt. Stir to combine then make a well in the center.
- Stir the 2 Large eggs, fork-beaten and ⅓ cup melted butter into the oatmeal and buttermilk mixture and mix to combine, then add the mixture to the well you created in the dry mixture. Add in the diced pears and Stir until just moistened then divide the mixture between the 12 muffin wells.
- Prepare the topping by combining the ¼ cup quick cooking rolled oats, 2 Tbsp Brown sugar and ¼ tsp ground cinnamon then divide equally onto the top of the muffin batter then bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Bake until a toothpick or tester comes out clean then remove from the oven and let sit in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.