Reaching for the sky instead of growing fruit, until now.

At the end of last summer, another growing season where our pear tree very much decided to continue to reach for the sky and yet forget its purpose, to grow fruit. I called a local arborist since the only pruning tips I'd received were from google. He came out, did a little snip snip here and there but said the real issue with our non-bearing fruit trees was fertilizer. Our trees lacked for being fertilized the last few years. Our peach tree has been producing since year two but our apple and pear trees, no such luck. We started the treatments with hope. This Spring one of our apple trees and our pear tree were filled with pretty blossoms – and to our surprise – we grew FRUIT! And boy howdy do we have pears. WOW… like… wow do we have pears. So now I’m on the look out for pear recipes. Nicholas and I decided pear muffins sounded delicious for breakfast. We picked some fresh off the tree and we were ready to bake! This recipe calls for whole wheat flour – I just used all purpose and they turned out great. We are currently on the hunt for more pear recipes before the birds get the pears. This winter we plan to cut off the top of the tree, it’s a dwarf tree and shouldn’t be as tall as the house, sure makes it hard to pick the pears… plus my super smart uncle who knows all there is to know about growing things told me to… seems like a better pick to ask than me.

Honey Pear Muffins

1 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 cup whole wheat Gold Medal flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
1/4 cup butter melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup diced pears
Course sugar for sprinkling on muffins

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners or coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, honey, egg, and vanilla. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until flour disappears. Gently stir in the pears.
4. Fill muffin cups ¾ of the way full. Sprinkle each with turbinado sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.