Am I too early for the gingerbread season? I will not bore you with another weather moan, but let’s just say that you should make these gingerbread pecan pear muffins on any cold days, rainy days, moody days..with nice cozy sweaters and woolly socks on. Which was exactly what I did recently. The sound of a noisy kitchen whisk or mixer is my way to relax, it sounds so much better than the beeping noise of cardiac monitors or all the gadgets in intensive care wards. At least with the former there is a beautiful cake, flavoured muffins or fluffy meringue that awaits. Unlike the daunting fates of cardiac monitors. It feels good to come home to a clean kitchen only for me to make a mess again with my flurry of flours, melted butter splashing all over the stove and crystal sugar sprinkles that feel almost magical.Just like snow flakes on a wintry day. With a hot cup of cocoa in a hand and a whisk on other, the ritual began. But this one, this gorgeous muffin took us on a shortcut with baking time, yet you would not believe how delicious they are.
These muffins are so much nicer than the Starbucks version that I actually tried to imitate. I saw the dainty display of muffins at work, and fell prey to the ginger walnut ones with the little iced bell shaped gingerbread cookie on top. So merry, I bought it for my daughter. She kept the iced bell shaped gingerbread cookie in her toy kitchen cabinet, left uneaten even after three days later! What would she know about possession at tender age of 4, but that innocent act of cherishing one little cookie pulled a string on me. The next thing I knew, I took out her little yellow stool and placed it religiously so she would be ‘tall’ enough to whisk the batter with me. It was raining, and we craved for something to go with our hot drinks. It has been some time since we baked together. These days we are too busy completing puzzles or reading books. But there is something special about baking with your child, and watch their mesmerised look when those bakes are out from the oven.
I would suggest keeping the pears chunky, they give a nice bite to the soft texture of muffins. I have used brown butter here but feel free to make it lighter with vegetable oil. Are you a fan of brown butter too? The spice tone has been kept minimum but enough for the ‘ginger power’ to shine, it is meant to be gingerbread after all! Just don’t skip on the nuts, what a different they make no matter if you use walnut or like this version, chopped roasted pecans. Let’s be merry and eat cakes!
Gingerbread Pecan Pear Muffins
A very festive muffin with layers of flavours from pears, pecan and gingerbread spices.Not to forget the brown butter!
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 large ripe Packham pears, chopped into chunks
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp molasses
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 65g unsalted butter, melted ( slightly less than ½ cup)
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- In a bowl, combine the flour with salt, spices and baking powder.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg gently and add the cooled brown butter, milk, brown sugar and molasses.
- Add the liquid mix to the dry ingredients.
- Tip in the pear and combine well, the batter should be slightly runny.
- Bake for 5 mins then reduce heat to 180C and bake for another 18 to 20 mins.
