pear muffins for breakfast

I'm slowly introducing solids to the baby, and I'm following the order as per this scan of a photocopy of an official looking document that I found somewhere on the internet over 3 years ago that says that up next is pears. So pears it is. It's not a fruit a typically buy, as no one seems to like eating it out of hand in our house. I'll occasionally pick up asian pears, but I find that it's hard to predict if they're going to be good or not. So I picked up a few d'anjou pears to make baby puree, but as I was cutting them up, I realised that if I was to cook them all, Ro would be eating pear puree until she's in kindergarten. So, three became baby mush, and two remained. 

A quick search through my evernote revealed that I had bookedmarked quite a few recipes calling for pears. 38 to be exact. I really wanted to make this one, but I figured I really didn't need just another recipe with cream cheese in it right now. I thought a muffin that we could quickly grab for breakfast would be more sensible. I was really hoping for a recipe with oats, so I could fool myself in thinking that a muffin is just perfectly healthy for breakfast. And a topping of some kind. I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I called my mom for a recipe she had for rhubarb oatmeal muffin. I remember that my husband really liked it when she made it last spring, and though I could go from there to adapt it into what I really wanted.

Pear oatmeal muffins with streusel

1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp butter, grated, cold

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup pear puree (can be replaced with another 1/4 cup oil)
1 large egg

2 cups peeled, chopped pears

Preheat oven to 350. 

Make streusel by combining oats, sugar and flour in a small bowl. Rub in butter with your fingers until crumbly. Set aside in the fridge while you prepare the muffins.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chopped pears. Divide batter into 12 lined muffin cups. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

They were exactly what I had in mind. They were moist and filling, perfect for breakfast with a tall glass of milk. The pear flavor came through light and bright. The muffin itself is not too sweet so the sugary crumb topping complemented it perfectly.