Distracted – AKA Bill Granger’s Crunchy Top Pear Muffins

So I haven’t posted in a while, not because I don’t want to but it just seems so much effort! With work piling on the pressure in my last few weeks, my sleep diminishing, my mobility reduced due to my ever expanding belly, poor tummyrumble has been neglected.

This is not to say that there hasn’t been any eating or cooking going on. Far from it! Apart from hitting my regular haunts like Fix St James, Cafe Mint, Coast and newcomers Xanthi

and the relocated Becasse , and getting to know my local area with visits to Faheem Fast food

 Cow and the Moon Gelato,

and Plunge Cafe and there is lots of cooking going on, albeit of the simpler kind.

One of the delicious treats on regular rotation at my house at the moment are these fantastic muffins from Bill Granger’s Holiday Cookbook. A great, easy recipe that you can whip up super fast with just about any fruit going. I’ve tried the original recipe with it’s pear, and have also used strawberries. Now a warning, these are not very sweet, but you can make them sweeter by adding a sweetened yoghurt or just adding more sugar. I also haven’t added the topping which is where the additional sweetness comes from as I don’t think it’s necessary with the fruit.

Bill Granger’s Crunchy Top Pear Muffins

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon (with the strawberry I substituted some vanilla bean paste)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 pear, peeled and diced

Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180° and line a 12 hole muffin tin

Sift the flours, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl, add the oats and the 1/2 cup of brown sugar and stir together. Make a well in  the centre

Whisk together the eggs, yoghurt, oil. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold through pear, don’t overmix.

Spoon into muffin tin.

To make crumble topping: mix pecans with remaining brown sugar and sprinkle over muffins

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.