VeganMofo: Iron Chef Challenge #2

The Iron Chef Challenge for this week is... pears & nuts! Easy enough.

I decided on something really simple for this combination, some basic muffins. These are pear muffins with a walnut topping, and they taste like breakfast. I'm a huge fan of pears, so I'll have to make these more often! Yeah, I used canned pears. Because I love canned pears, man. It's the only canned fruit I eat. Plus, it gives Ken a chance to quote a random episode of The Sopranos: "Canned pears, it's my secret!"



To make these, I adapted a blueberry streusel muffin recipe from The Damn Tasty! Vegan Baking Guide. Here is my adapted version of Kris' original recipe.

Pear Muffins with Walnut Topping
Makes 12 regular sized muffins

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 can of pear halves in pear juice
1 cup pear juice, reserved from can of pears
1/4 cup canola oil
1 6oz container plain soy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnut pieces
brown sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400F and line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Add in the pear halves, and break the halves apart while stirring the mixtures. It's okay if the pears become mushy, like apple sauce.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients, except for the walnuts and brown sugar. Add the wet to the dry, and stir gently until just mixed.

Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling about 3/4 full. Evenly distribute the walnuts over the top of each muffin, then sprinkle each top with brown sugar.
Bake for about 20-24 minutes, to a light golden brown.