Harvest Spice Muffins (Apple-Pear Spice Muffins)

With an abundance of quickly ripening pears on the counter, and with a crowd of hungry little people to feed, I came up with these tender, lightly sweet, and surprisingly healthy muffins! They passed the Picky Sibling Test with flying colors. I modified a basic apple muffin recipe from a Pennyslvania bed and breakfast, making changes to make the muffins healthier and more unique. I hope you like them too! I used a mixture of apples and pears (two small Bartlett pears and one very small Pink Lady apple), but you could use just apples if that's all you have available. I also used white whole wheat flour (ground from white wheat), which is lighter than regular whole wheat (ground from red wheat). It has the exact same nutritional value but is not as strong-flavored or "heavy," so try it if you can find it!

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Yields: 20 muffins

Ingredients

• 2  eggs
• 1  cup low-fat milk
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil or 1⁄2 cup canola oil
• 2  cups  diced unpeeled pears, and or 2  cups apples
• 3  cups white whole wheat flour
• 1  cup  sucanat
• 4  teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, milk, and oil until completely blended.
2. Stir in diced fruit.
3. Combine remaining ingredients in separate bowl.
4. Add dry to wet ingredients and stir just until blended.
5. Let batter sit for 15-20 minutes: this is optional, but I think it makes the muffins rise higher. (You could also let the batter sit after you divide it into the muffin cups, instead of before.).
6. Divide batter between 20 greased muffin cups and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top.
7. Serve warm with a drizzle of honey!