Weekend Baking: Whole Grain Pear Pecan Breakfast Muffins

I'm a creature of habit when it comes to weekday breakfast. I start almost every day with a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and nuts. It's not terribly exciting, but it helps me start my day with energy and without a lot of thought-- I'm not much of a morning person, so the less creative thinking I have to do at 7 AM, the better. Sometimes, though, that bowl of oatmeal is just really boring.

Last weekend I decided to do something a little different and make my weekday breakfast even easier: by turning my usual bowl of oatmeal into a portable muffin. These muffins are really easy to make and are full of healthy ingredients: pears, pecans, whole wheat flour, oats, and Greek yogurt. And the flavor is great! They are just sweet enough and super hearty, so a muffin, a banana, and a cup of coffee is all I need to get me through the morning.

These are really easy to customize too. You could sub in apples for pears, dried cranberries or diced dried apricots for the raisins, and walnuts or almonds would both be delicious in place of the pecans. You could also stir in 1/4 cup of dried coconut to add another delicious layer of flavor here too.

These muffins freeze really well and also make a great midday snack. Bake up a batch to keep on hand for those days when you are not feeling like a morning person. And if you're like me, you may need to double the recipe!


Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup 2 Tbs. whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 fat free plain Greek yogurt
• 2 Tbs. canola oil
• 1 large pear, peeled and shredded or finely diced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Create a well in the center of the mixture and set bowl aside.

In a separate medium bowl, beat the egg well. Whisk in sugar, honey, yogurt, and oil and then stir in the pear until combined. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Fold in raisins and pecans.

Spoon batter into the muffin liners. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This recipe yields about 1 dozen full sized muffins.


Looking for more delicious breakfast baking? Try these Healthier Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!