Pear Muffins (with a walnut streusel!)

A pear muffin with a walnut streusel throughout and even more streusel on top! When pears are in season, then make these pear streusel muffins. With whole wheat flour and yogurt, they are delicious easy breakfast recipe that you don’t have to feel guilty about!

Ok don’t hate on me, but I’m not a huge fan of eating pears on their own. Give me an apple, a peach, sure all set. But a pear? Nah. I’ll pass. But baking with them? Oh heck yes! Like these super easy Pear Turnovers, or this Pear Cranberry Crumble Pie perfect for the holidays. But let’s not forget about popping some into some muffins. Like these pear muffins.

When it comes to breakfast treats, muffins couldn’t get easier.  But I don’t know about you but sometimes I swear I eat them for the streusel topping. Like eat the muffin tops only.  So what about instead of just streusel on top, how about streusel in the middle and on top? Now we’re talking people. And that’s what I did with these pear muffins with a walnut streusel.

But you said they were healthy? Ok yes I snuck streusel in the middle and on top. So to balance it out, I made these pear muffins with half whole wheat flour and yogurt.  My general rule of thumb is when baking with flour, it’s best to use half whole wheat flour. That way the muffins are still tender but are a bit healthier. Just be sure when measuring you flour, you measure it correctly.

This is a wonderful tender spiced pear muffin with chunks of pear that get all yummy and roasted while the muffins bake. With a little cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla.  I wish you could smell my kitchen right now. It’s pure heaven friends. These muffins make you want to throw on some cozy socks, grab a cup of coffee and a good book and watch the pretty leaves turn colors. 

But before we do that, let’s actually make these muffins shall we? Muffins, like I said, easy. However, a few muffin tips can go along way. 

What ingredients do you need for these healthy pear walnut muffins?

• All purpose flour
• Whole wheat flour 
• Cinnamon
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Light brown sugar
• Large eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Yogurt
• 2 pears

A Few Baking Tips To Make This Pear Muffin Recipe

A couple things to get these muffins perfect is…

1. Make sure your muffin pan is good and buttered. I mean like the whole darn thing. The muffin wells and the top. If you butter the top of the pan as well it ensures that when the muffins rise up and over (and you want them too), the muffin tops don’t get stuck. Genius, I know.

2. I have definitely said this in past muffin recipes. But, please, people don’t overmix. Mixing is fun I know. Has been since we were kids right? But maybe that’s why as kids, our muffins that mom let us mix up were not exactly bakery worthy. Oh well. Thanks for letting us have fun anyway Mom.

3. Don’t be afraid to fill up these muffin wells. I mean go for it. Fill ’em right up.

How to make these pear muffins

Chop your pears – I start with chopping my pears and setting those aside. That way they are ready for me when I need them in the recipe!

Make your streusel – Then mixing together your streusel ingredients. Like I said some will be sprinkled in the middle, and some reserved for the top. Just mix this together and set it aside. Feel free to mix this all together with your hands. Get in there and have some fun. 

Whisk your dry ingredients together – For the actual batter, you want to mix your dry ingredients together first and set aside. I used whole wheat and all purpose flour, but you can use just all purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand.

Mix your wet ingredients – Next with a hand whisk you want to whisk your melted butter with your sugars until light and fluffy. Then add in your eggs one at a time and your pure vanilla extract. 

Alternate dry and wet – Then it’s time to alternate your dry ingredients with your yogurt.

Fold in your pears. And of course, let’s not forget the pears. I mean they are pear muffins after all, even if you are secretly just wanting to eat these for the streusel. I’m not judging, trust me. 

Scoop and bake. I did not use liners for these but you can for easier clean up and making them great for transporting. I just sprayed my muffin tin (wells and top of the tin) with cooking spray. When you go to scoop these, you want to fill the liners halfway, top with a tablespoon of streusel and repeat until they are filled to the top. 

Pear Muffins FAQ’s

Do I need to peel the pears first?

I didn’t but you can! I figure a little extra fiber from the skin just makes them a touch healthier (aka less guilty when eating more than one!)

What if I don’t have whole wheat flour?

You definitely could use 100% all purpose flour if you don’t have any. I used half and half to make them slightly more nutritious. You could also use white whole wheat flour, which has all the nutritious benefits of using regular whole wheat flour but the texture of all purpose. I used it in my whole wheat banana bread and you would never know it’s whole wheat! You can read all about the differences of flours here. 

Why did my muffins not rise?

This is probably due to the fact that your leavening agents might be stale. They have a shelf life about 6 months when opened. It’s always good if you don’t bake a lot to test it them out before you use them. For baking powder, I test it in a little bit of hot water. For baking soda I test in a bit of acid (lemon juice or vinegar). If they bubble vigorously then you are good to go. If not then throw them out!

Why did my muffins fall flat?

This is due probably to them being underbaked. And if they are underbaked, then the structure has had time to set up causing them to sink. I always give mine a quick test with a toothpick to make sure that no raw batter is clinging to it. I look for moist crumbs and no raw batter before I take them out. 

And last but not least…to ensure you get those beautiful mile-high muffin tops you drool over at the bakery counter. Bake your muffins on a high heat (425 F) for just five minutes then lower your heat back down. Those first few minutes of the high oven temperature will help those muffins get sky-high for you. Let’s start the week right people…

With these whole wheat pear muffins with a walnut streusel. Not a bad Monday when you get eat one of these right?

If you are looking for more muffin recipes, be sure to check these out. 

• Blueberry Crumb Muffins
• Apple Cider Donut Muffins
• Chocolate Mocha Muffins
• Pumpkin Muffins
• Peach Muffins (with a Pecan Streusel Topping!)