Roasted Walnut and Pear Cream Muffins

So I know I said I was only going to update the previous muffin post with the pear-walnut variation, since the recipe is the same--these deserve their own post. They. Are. So. Good. The combination of roasted walnut and pear is always a winner, but stick them in this incredibly tender, exceptionally light and moist muffin and you've reached heaven. Well, if heaven were a muffin.
I also know I have said before that I like lower-fat muffins, since they're usually a snack or breakfast for me, and I don't like to start my day off with a fat-bomb of a super-rich muffin. Well...I had this for dessert. They are that good, and by no means light or good for you. So I can add this to my favorite quick bread recipes, for when you just want spectacular, and calories be damned.

This is again adapted from Bakewise, by her Highness Shirley O. Corriher. I reduced the fat and sugar by just enough to make the muffin a bit more sturdy, but still very moist and tender. And in case you read this recipe and think I am crazy to have yogurt, but no baking soda to offset the acidity, I'll let you in on the secret--it's the cream. Heavy cream contains buffering agents, according to Shirls, that neutralize some of the acid in a recipe. So it acts like a bit of soda, leaving the recipe a bit acidic to ensure a good rise. I know, it surprised me too. One other thing that is unique to this recipe is coating the roasted nuts with butter. I am pretty sure (although she doens't explain why) that this repels the water in the batter, preventing the nuts from steaming inside the muffin. Which is why I usually don't add nuts to muffins or cakes, because they turn soft. Not these, they stay super-crunchy. Neat trick!

Roasted Walnut and Pear Cream Muffins

Dry:
250g ( 2 scant cups) bleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
Wet:
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/3 cup (70g) canola oil
2/3 cup (160g) plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Additional:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chopped canned or poached pears (about 2 pears)*, drained well and patted dry
coarse sugar, optional**

Preheat oven to 425. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners.
In a small saute pan, toast walnuts til fragrant and lightly colored, about five minutes. (Do not burn.) Add 1 tbsp butter while still hot, stir to coat, and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, combine Dry ingredients, and whisk together for a full 30 seconds to combine well.
In a medium bowl, combine Wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and add wet mixture--stir gently to combine. Make sure it's well incorporated, but don't mix too vigorously.
In a medium bowl, whip cream to soft peaks. Add 1/3 of this, as well as the walnuts and pears, to the batter and stir. When incorporated, add remaining cream and gently fold in until well blended.
Drop into muffin pans. Batter will come up to almost the top of the cups--this makes for big, well-domed muffins. If desired, sprinkle a little coarse sugar in the muffin tops.
urn oven down to 400, and bake for 22-25 minutes, til golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins.

*I found that using canned pears dulls the taste a bit--they just taste canned to me. I like the jarred pears you can find at Trader Joe's, or if you'd like to poach your own (seeing as how it's pear season!) just peel, core and halve 2 pears. Bring 4 cups of water and 2 cup of sugar to a boil, and simmer the pears for 5-7 minutes, til tender. Drain well, cool and chop. That's the very best way to enjoy these.
**If you sprinkle the sugar, the muffin tops will get a bit soggy the next day. Depends on how long you're planning on keeping them around. (Trust me, they won't last long!)