Pear Apple GingerBran Muffins
from @foodworxjen
When classic bran meets gingerbread, sweet pears and tart-sweet apples you won’t even believe the muffins they make! Fragrant with spices and molasses and oh, so tender and moist they’re the perfect thing to bake on a snowy afternoon.
1-1/2 cup natural wheat bran
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (not fat-free)
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp each, ground ginger and cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 large egg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup fancy molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup each, diced pear and apple (or 1-1/2 cups of one)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper or silicone liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together bran, milk and yogurt. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger,
cinnamon and allspice.
Add egg, brown sugar, oil, molasses and vanilla to bran mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with pear and apple; stir just until moistened.
Divide equally among prepared muffin cups.
Bake for about 22 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Let cool
in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to rack.
Makes 12 muffins.
Tips: You don’t need to peel the pear and apple, but you can if you prefer.
For pears, I like Bartlett or Bosc because they hold their shape and flavour when baked, for apples, any tart-sweet apple is good for muffins: Spartan, Empire, Crispin (Mutsu) and Ida Red and even McIntosh.
These are on the sweeter side of muffins (but not quite cake-sweet), but you can cut back on the sugar to 1/3 cup if you prefer a less sweet version, or use cooking molasses instead of fancy.
