Cardamom Pear Muffins

After I moved into my new home last year, my friend gifted me with a box of last Harry & David Royal Riveria Pears. I used the very last one to make these muffins and took them with me on a bus trip up to New York City, where I attended the Coffee & Tea Festival with her.

These muffins are extremely straightforward to put together. Unlike some recipes, they do require creaming together butter and sugar, but even with that step, the batter comes together in about 6 minutes. Buttermilk keeps the crumb moist and helps to offset the earthy flavors. To further balance the cardamom, which can be strong, especially if you grind it straight from the pod, I added just a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg.

The muffins are light and tender of crumb and a bite that marries the pear with cardamom has a sweet, fruity, lightly spiced flavor. They make a great breakfast that won’t send you crashing from a sugar high, and pair nicely with green tea.

Cardamom Pear Muffins Recipe

By nicole Published: July 20, 2015

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Ready In: 30 mins

From Serious Eats

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 large pear peeled, cored, cut into ¼

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with paper liners or grease with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Add ½ dry ingredients to bowl, followed by buttermilk, then the remaining dry ingredients. Stir together just until last of flour mixture is incorporated. Stir in diced pears.
Divide batter between muffin cups, filling about ¾ full. Bake until golden on top and a cake tester inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Muffins are best on the day that they're made, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.