Cinnamon Pear Muffins with Streusel Topping (Easy + Freezer Friendly!)

This recipe for Pear Muffins is the perfect fall breakfast treat! I have all the details covered when it comes to making these muffins with pears, storing the leftovers, gluten-free muffin substitutes, and the best way to freeze and reheat these pear muffins with streusel topping – come check it out!

Creating this Pear Muffin Recipe

Not to brag, but I think I did really well this past week with my 10 in 2010 goals. I exercised every day (except Sunday, that is my day off), I ate breakfast at a reasonable time, and I made a point to plan balanced lunches instead of snacking all afternoon. I am feeling great!

On the plus side, I get to spend time with my husband in the morning now that I am getting up earlier. We work out together and eat breakfast together before he has to leave for work. For me that is really something special because he usually leaves for work before I am even up. I have found that uninterrupted one-on-one time with my husband is definitely how I like to start my morning.

Not that the benefits of exercise, eating well, and extra time with my husband aren’t gratifying enough, but I did feel like I deserved a special breakfast after all that hard work.

What I Love About Pear Muffins

I was craving something sweet and baked, but I still wanted the treat to have healthy elements to it. These muffins are full of grated pear and ground almonds.

The pear taste isn’t strong, but the vanilla bean, spices, brown sugar, and almonds provide a lot of flavor in this moist muffin. They were definitely a big hit in our family.

And my picky eater, Logan, didn’t even know he had eaten pears!

Tools Needed to Make Pear Muffins

I recommend having the following kitchen tools on hand when preparing this recipe:

• Measuring Cups and Spoons – you’ll need these items to measure out the ingredients.
• Mixing Bowls – a large bowl and a medium bowl are ideal since you’ll mix up the dry ingredients and wet ingredients each in a separate bowl.
• Hand Mixer – to beat the butter and sugars.
• Spatula – a silicone spatula is great for scraping the sides of your bowl.
• Muffin Pan – you’ll need 2 regular sized muffin tins (24 muffin cups total)
• Muffin Liners – you can use paper liners or cooking spray, but I prefer using the liners.
• Large Cookie Scoop – I like using a large cookie scoop to scoop batter into the muffin tin.
• Cooling Rack – a cooling rack works well for cooling the pear muffins after they bake.

Ingredients in Pear Muffins

Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need to prepare this delicious muffin recipe:

For the Pear Muffin Batter

Dry Ingredients

• All Purpose Flour
• Whole Wheat Flour
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Ground Almonds
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Cardamom
• Brown Sugar
• Granulated Sugar

Wet Ingredients

• Unsalted Butter
• Eggs
• Vanilla Bean or Vanilla Extract
• Almond Extract
• Fresh Pears

For the Pear Muffin Streusel Topping

• All Purpose Flour
• Unsalted Butter
• Cinnamon
• Ground Almonds

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

What Kind of Pears Should I Use to Make Pear Muffins?

The only variety of pears I don’t recommend using are Asian Pears. Anjou pears, Bartlett pears, or Bosc pears will all work fine in this recipe for cinnamon pear muffins as long as they are ripe!

How to Make Pear Muffins

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour until you have small crumbly bits. Stir in the ground almonds. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, almonds, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. Set aside. Using a electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat together the sugars and butter sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes.

Next, cut the vanilla bean in half, then cut a slit down the middle in the half you are using. Use a knife or spoon to scrape out the beans.

Then, add the eggs, vanilla bean, and almond extract to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Stir in half of the flour mixture followed by half of the grated pear, and repeat.

After that, line muffin cups with paper liners. Divide batter evenly among cups – I used a scant 1/4 cup per muffin. Sprinkle the tops of the batter with the streusal mixture.

Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Lastly, set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 15 minutes

Can I Make these Gluten-Free Pear Muffins?

My recommendation if you would like to experiment with adapting this recipe to be gluten-free is to use the following substitution methods. Note: I haven’t personally tested these substitutes for this particular recipe, but I have with many other muffin recipes.

METHOD #1: My preferred method when it comes to making substitutions to prepare gluten-free muffins is to substitute half the amount of flour with Cup for Cup All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour and the other half with Almond Flour

• When using nut flours: check to make sure they are certified gluten-free to ensure there are no additives that contain gluten, or that the flour is not processed on shared machinery with other gluten containing items.
• Another tip when using nut flours: I prefer to use Blue Diamond Almond Flour because their flour is also certified peanut-free. Many nut flours are processed on shared equipment with peanut containing products, and we have a peanut allergy in our home.

METHOD #2 :Substitute all of the flour for Cup for Cup Gluten-Free Ancient Grains Flour or Cup for Cup All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour.

How to Freeze these Pear Muffins

I love to make a double batch of these Pear Muffins so I can stash extras in the freezer. The instructions for freezing muffins are really easy! Head over to this post: How to Freeze Muffins (+15 Easy Muffin Recipes to Try!). But, here’s a quick overview (more details in the post!):

1. Cook the pear muffins according to recipe directions.
2. Cool the muffins to room temperature.
3. Place the cooled muffins on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
4. Place the baking sheet into the freezer. Allow the muffins to freeze until solid.
5. When frozen, transfer to a gallon freezer bag or airtight storage container.

Reheating Instructions: Thaw the pear muffins on a tray at room temp, then either eat them at room temperature once thawed, or warm them.

Warming them in the microwave works well when you do one at a time for just a few seconds. If you want to warm a whole batch you can pop them on a baking tray and transfer them to the oven for a couple of minutes.

Try this Pear Muffin Recipe at Home!

Next time you’re looking for a delicious recipe for moist muffins, give these Pear Muffins a try! Did you love the addition of juicy pears to the muffin batter? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this wonderful recipe.

On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me with @goodlifeeats and #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see your photo of this pear muffin recipe!

More Muffin Recipes

Looking for some more delicious muffins to try? Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

Zucchini Apple Spice Muffins are perfect for the transition space between summer and fall. You can use up the loads of summer zucchini that are laying around in your garden, the grocery store, or at the farmer’s market.

I think that this recipe for Strawberry Oatmeal Muffins is the best strawberry muffin, and they are the perfect healthy breakfast muffin treat.

These Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins offer a fun fall take on the traditional Honey Cornbread Muffin. Infused with real pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and fall spices, these Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins are the perfect contrast to a bowl of savory chili.

This recipe for Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins makes just the right amount to feed two people. Perfect for those moments when you just want a single muffin!

Apple Cranberry Muffins are packed with oats, fall spices, fresh cranberries, and shredded apples. They’re the perfect fall or Thanksgiving muffin recipe and are so easy to make!

Don’t see what you’re looking for here? You can always head over to check out the recipe index to look for more recipes.

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