It’s Fall! Time for some baking. First up: These Pear Cardamom Muffins
Pear Cardamom Muffins
Having grown up in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut, it’s strange to live somewhere without crunchy leaves and the unmistakable crispness that comes with fall. I miss it. A lot. Winter? That I do not miss. At all.
So I’ll stay where I am, and enjoy the weather that always feels something like a cross between spring and fall, which happen to be my favorites anyway.
While we don’t have the definitive fall weather here in San Francisco, we still get the seasonal produce that brings the same feelings of Autumn. Apples are crisp and juicy, pumpkins are everywhere and in everything (Facebook, Instagram, I’m looking at you), and hard winter squashes begin to replace the zucchini and pattypan varieties.
Don’t worry, I’ll make my pumpkin contribution to the blogosphere. I have a recipe in the files just waiting for October. But for now, how about a little reminder that this season is known as Harvest Time?
makes one dozen muffins3 ripe pears (about 1 1/2 pounds), divided
3 eggs
¼ cup palm shortening or soft butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 ¼ cup almond flour
½ cup arrowroot flour
3 tablespoons coconut flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (plus more for sprinkling on top, optional)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (plus more for sprinkling on top, optional)
⅛ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with parchment liners.
- Roughly chop half of the pears and place in a blender with the eggs, honey and shortening or butter. Blend until smooth.
- Mince the remaining pears and stir into the blended pear mixture.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, coconut flour, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Scoop into muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.
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Kim says
These are so delicious. FYI: I whisked and then sifted the dry ingredients, it made the muffins quite light. Thank you for your delicious recipes!
alissafoo says
LOVE these!! I used hazelnut flour instead of almond and kept some of the pear pieces to make some chunks. they are PERFECT!
zenbellyblog says
So glad you love them! I bet these with Hazelnut flour was delicious!
wwhite56 says
Made these this weekend, they were absolutely fantastic. I’m hoping you’re planning a cookbook?
zenbellyblog says
Glad you loved them! Regarding the cookbook: mmmmmmmaybe 😉
Carolyn A. says
Made these last night, I can attest, these are awesome!
Renee P. says
We just made a variation on these – zucchini muffins. I wanted a pretty basic muffin recipe from your site because I know your almond-arrowroot-coconut ratio is great. I added one cup of shredded zucchini at the end (plus some chocolate chips!) and I thought the moisture would be pretty good to make up for the pear. I only drained the zucchini a little bit because it had been frozen; next time I think I will use 1.5 to 2 cups of zucchini for extra moisture and volume. I used more cinnamon than cardamom, but next time I’ll omit the cardamom.
Thanks for a great basic muffin recipe!
Karen says
Just found your blog last week. On the go breakfast is hard for a busy Paleo family. These are great. Thank you!
Renee P. says
Now I’ve made these into apple muffins with very good results! I used 1/2 cup of applesauce in the wet ingredients and 2.5 small apples (with the peel) cut into chunks. 1.5 tsp cinnamon and no cardamom. Very tasty!!
tlmussel says
These look lovely! I am going to make them for Thanksgiving! One question: would the consistency still turn out the same if I sub coconut oil for palm shortening? Thanks!
zenbellyblog says
It will probably come out more or less the same, but I can’t say for sure because they’re actually quite different ingredients. The closest thing to the palm shortening would be butter or ghee, if you eat those. If you use coconut oil, please let me know how they turn out, so others wondering the same thing will know!
Jennifer says
I’ve used coconut oil as a butter substitute in both your muffin recipes and they still turn out perfect!
And thank you for a wonderful breakfast alternative – I don’t think I could have eaten another egg or drank another smoothie. I just used this as a base to make strawberry-rhubarb muffins for this week…. so many possibilities!
zenbellyblog says
Oh yay I’m so glad to hear it! And I love that you’re creating your own versions! I love when people do that 🙂 Strawberry rhubarb sounds perfect for summer!
terriharplady says
These muffins are wonderful! Thanks as always!
Jill says
Hi – for how long would these keep? I’m a single household and 1/2 the recipe but would love to have the full batch if they will keep.
zenbellyblog says
Hi Jill! grain-free baked goods tend to mold pretty quickly due to the moisture content. But they keep pretty well in the fridge! I’m not sure exactly how long but I would bet 5-7 days. They might freeze alright too but I haven’t tried that.