Vegan Pear Muffins

We had a few pears laying around that were just days from going off so I thought I'd put together a little something with them. I really love this recipe for banana muffins so I used it as a guideline and changed things up quite a bit. Firstly, I omitted the banana and added in my overly ripe pears. Since pears are quite sweet, I cut the amount of sugar in half. If you want something sweeter go ahead and add in all the sugar, or even some maple syrup. I am not vegan (maybe one day!), but I really enjoy trying out vegan alternatives in my baking. Instead of using eggs, I made an egg substitute using just chia seeds and water. Instead of melted butter, I melted some coconut oil in both the muffins themselves as well as for the streusel topping. There really is no difference with the texture or the density of the muffins, so you don't have to worry about that. 

The end result leaves you with incredibly moist muffins that are packed with flavour and topped with a sweet and crumbly brown sugar streusel.

Yield - 12 muffins

Ingredients -

Muffins
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
3 tablespoons of water
5 small, overly ripe pears
1/2 of a cup of coconut oil, melted
1 and a 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 of a cup of organic sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
1 heaping teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/8 of a teaspoon of ground ginger

Streusel Topping
2 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted
1/4 of a cup of organic brown sugar
1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
1/3 of a cup of oats

Method -

1 - Preheat your oven to 400F and line a muffin tray with paper liners. In a small bowl, combine your chia seeds and water. Mix and let sit for about five minutes. It will turn sort of gooey and act as a substitute for eggs in this recipe.
2 - Mash up your pears. The pears you use should be overly ripe and very soft. Once mashed be sure to drain any excess liquid. In a large bowl whisk your pears together with your chia seed mixture and melted coconut oil until combined. Set aside.
3 - In a small bowl mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Combine with your pear mixture and mix just until everything is moistened. 
4 - Spoon your batter into your paper liners. Be sure not to fill them up too much, you will need a bit of room for your streusel topping.
5 - Make your streusel topping by combining all your ingredients in a small bowl and top muffins generously.
6 - Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be sure not to overbake. You want your muffins to be moist.

I hope you enjoy these! They are absolutely delicious and just so simple to put together. Have a great weekend! x