Once again, we’re in the 10 or so day stretch before a glut of final exams, which means that things are simultaneously revving up, but also getting strangely quiet at school. We’re finally reaching the last units of new material in Finance, Accounting and Econ, but we’re also having to relearn EVERYTHING since the beginning of time–at least I am.
Though I’d like nothing more than to spend an entire week fooling around in the kitchen, writing a few chapters of a novel (or really anything that’s not my marketing project) holed up in a coffee shop, or any of the myriad distractions I’ve come up with, it’s just 10 more days of intense studying, which brings me to my real question (no, I did not come here just to complain): how do you feel about pep talks? Do you like receiving them from your significant other? More often than not, I’m on the receiving end of Erik’s pep talks rolling my eyes and putting on my grumpy face like the ungrateful student I am.
Anyway.
These muffins! They’re glorious. A few weeks back, I had a very specific craving for a muffin with a grainy crumb and a crisp crust. Not a super-silky cake-like muffin (as per my usual cravings), but something kind of hearty. And filled with pear, since I had a sack of pears ripening away in my fridge.
In an unsurprising turn of events, adapting this recipe from Izy’s gorgificent website (have you read her gorgeous cookbook? I MEAN.) yielded exactly what I’d been craving. A slightly open, but still dense crumb, coarse with almonds, beautifully crisp edges and the cutest puffed tops that billowed up around the sliced pear. I was in the mood for something delicate when I made these, so I think they should technically be called muffin tops, since they’re about half the size of normal muffins. I hate that phrase to the point where I think it should be nixed from the English language, but it’s just so appropriate to describe these. If you come up with another name, let me know.
No matter what you call these, this pear-almond-honey combination is just happiness, and this recipe is a perfect small-batch recipe for solo snacking throughout the week. Now please tell me all about what you’ve been eating lately!
Note: I did try making these without wheat flour, but this particular recipe needs just a bit of gluten for structure, so I wouldn’t recommend substituting the small amount of all-purpose flour for a non-gluten flour. For a vegan version, use maple syrup instead of honey, or use additional sugar instead.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 small pear, for topping
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 6-cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, coconut oil, water and honey.
Scoop a heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Thinly slice a wedge of pear lengthwise, then width-wise into 1-inch sections. Create a fan shape with about 5-6 slices and press into each of the tops of muffin batter. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until puffed with bronzed tops. Let cool for several minutes before removing from pan.
Notes
Adapted from here.
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