Banana Pumpkin Pear Muffins

Even though it’s been happening around the 15^th of every month since March, it still catches me by surprise. The doorbell rings, I rush to see who it is, and find a box. A box beautifully packaged and full of something delicious: fruit. Yes, Ed and I are members of the Harry & David Fruit-of-the-Month Club, thanks to a very generous wedding gift from our friends Ben and Abby!

Now, unlike the Beer-of-the-Month Club microbrews or Stonewall Kitchen-of-the-Month Club sauces and muffin mixes (both also wonderful wedding gifts!), with fruit we have to use it quickly before it becomes overripe. So each month I am faced with a new challenge. I’ve done pineapple skewers for a bbq we hosted; apple pie and apple crisp and homemade applesauce; we even had papaya smoothies once for a week straight!

November brought pears. And I love pears, because they are high in vitamin C and vitamin C is not only an antioxidant, but it also stimulates white blood cells to fight off infection and it kills bacteria. Pears are considered a hypoallergenic fruit and are a safe choice for infants. They are also a good source of fiber, copper and vitamin K.

I have had two small pie pumpkins sitting on my living room mantle for a couple of weeks, just begging to be baked. So I came up with this recipe myself, and it turned out very nicely. I used some ingredients that may not be readily available in your kitchen cabinets, so feel free to use the (alternative) ingredient instead.

Recipe

1 ½ cups almonds, ground to a meal in food processor (1 ½ cups any type of flour product)

1 ½ cups steel cut oats, ground to a flour in food processor (1 ½ cups any type of oats, unground is fine too)

1 cup spelt flour (1 cup any type of flour, or flax seed meal would work well too)

1 tsp grated ginger (can leave out if you don’t have it)

1 ¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

A few dashes of sea salt

1 ripe banana

2 pears, chopped

1 cup pureed fresh pumpkin (canned works well too)

1 egg

1 tbsp butter (optional)

1 tbsp unsulphured blackstrap molasses (1 tbsp raw honey)

¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Puree chopped pears and ripe banana in a food processor, blender or by hand. Ed gives this step a big thumbs up.

In large bowl, combine almond meal, oats, spelt flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.

In separate bowl combine molasses, egg, butter, pumpkin, banana, pears, and milk.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well. If batter is too dry or too wet, adjust with milk or flour accordingly.

Spoon into muffin tin and bake for 14-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes 18 muffins.

What is blackstrap molasses? I figured you’d ask.

Blackstrap molasses is the liquid byproduct

from the sugar refining process. It is one of

the few sweeteners that is actually good for you,

in that it boosts iron stores, is a good source of

calcium, and is full of the minerals copper,

magnesium, potassium and manganese. It does

contain sucrose so if you have blood sugar

problems you may want to avoid it.

These muffins are full of nutrients and make a great breakfast or snack. Ed and I had them this morning along with a mostly-veggie smoothie. And I’ll even let you in on a little secret: I added some chocolate chips to the last 6 muffins… and who can turn down muffins with chocolate chips???

Allison, if you’re reading this, yes, I saved you and Teddy some.

And before we officially enter the weekend, let me leave you with a few clues about Monday’s post, which could quite possibly be the best yet at Pierce Whole Nutrition:

1. I did not write it.

2. It’s funny. Very, very funny.

3. It will make you buzz over to your local market to buy the freshest raw honey available.

I am very excited about Monday’s guest blogger and you should be too. I promise she won’t let you down!