Simultaneously airy and decadent, these pear-walnut muffins are the perfect treat for fall mornings. The vanilla bean in the streusel softens the punch of the ginger to give a rich sweetness with a mellow bite.
Pear-Walnut Muffins with Vanilla Bean-Ginger Streusel
Makes about 24
Ingredients
- Streusel:
- ¾ cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (55 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground ginger
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved*
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- Muffins:
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups cored and diced pear
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (113 grams) chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (2 grams) grated fresh nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup whole buttermilk
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with baking spray with flour, or line muffin cups with paper liners.
- For streusel: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, salt, ginger, and reserved vanilla bean seeds. Drizzle with melted butter, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Crumble with your fingertips until desired consistency is reached.
- For muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pears, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla bean paste. Fold butter mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups; top with streusel.
- Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pans.
Notes
*We used Heilala Vanilla Beans and Heilala Vanilla Paste.
I made only the streusel component of this recipe and used it as a cake layer filling. It was delicious – very unique taste and my favorite streusel filling I’ve made so far! Here are the changes I made:
– Used Wholesome Organic Dark Brown Sugar instead of the Light Brown Sugar called for in the recipe.
– Added a drizzle of Grape Seed Oil to help it clump, as I did not want to melt more Butter after it was all mixed together!
– Next time, I would use 1 teaspoon of Ground Ginger for a stronger Ginger flavor.
– Baked on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 350F for 24 minutes, stirring every 8 minutes.
These muffins were amazing, especially warm! I’m not a fan of a lot of nutmeg, so I only used 1/4 t. and subbed in a cinnamon based blend for the remainder (Penzeys Cake Spice). I used ripe but firm Bartlett pears, peeled, and cut into 1/3″ dice. I also subbed in 1 t. of vanilla bean paste instead of the whole vanilla bean in the streusel recipe. I filled the muffin cups 2/3 full and it made 18.