One of the food blogs I read is Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn. When the post popped up in my Google Reader for these muffins, I immediately starred it and knew I would be making them sometime over my 3 day weekend. I knew I had every single ingredient in my kitchen already. Plus I liked the fact that they were a Weight Watchers recipe, so I knew they’d be healthy. (Two Weight Watcher’s recipes in a row, that is VERY random for me). The Kitchn figured up that these were 163 calories and 3g fat each. I made a couple substitutions, I subbed whole wheat flour for one of the cups of flour, and the sour cream I used was reduced fat. Plus, I ended up with 14 muffins, instead of 12. My changes bring them to 120 calories & 1g fat each. Not too bad for these yummy muffins! This is a recipe I’ll definitely keep on hand, as it would be great to serve to company.

(PS. the ingredient list LOOKS long, but it’s all pantry staples you’re most likely to have on hand)

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Ginger Glazed Pear Muffins

adapted from WeightWatchers.com as seen on Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn

Ingredients:

2 spray(s) cooking spray
2 large pear(s), ripe, Bosc, with skin (I used 1 bosc & 1 d'anjou)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup(s) sugar, granulated
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup(s) sour cream (I used reduced fat)
1 large egg(s), beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use 2 cups all-purpose if you prefer)
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup(s) powdered sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp water, warm, or more if necessary

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF and coat a 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray or muffin liners.

Core and chop pears into tiny cubes; place in a large bowl. Add cinnamon, granulated sugar and lemon juice to pears; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream, egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and milk; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Make a well with a spoon in center of flour mixture and pour in sour cream mixture and fruit mixture, alternating in small batches; mix until barely blended. Do not over beat. (NOTE: Batter will be very thick.)

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons into muffin holes until about 2/3 to 3/4 full; bake until top is golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in muffin tin; remove from tins to racks and cool completely. (Or leave slightly warm to dip into glaze for easier preparation.)

While muffins are cooling, make glaze: Mix powdered sugar, ginger, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and warm water together in a small bowl (add another teaspoon of water if glaze is too thick) . Spread a thin layer of glaze over each muffin.