Sunday, November 8, 2009

SMS: Pear Cranberry Muffins with Ginger-Molasses Crumble

So, I know that I just posted a cranberry bread yesterday, but here is another one! I'm quite happy to be baking it, too, because I have about 8 pounds of cranberries that need to be used! You'll be seeing many cranberry recipes in the coming days and weeks.

While I loved the cranberry bread I posted yesterday, my son and husband weren't crazy for it. Unlike me, they don't love overly sour things. Or at least they don't love cranberries - my son will eat pickles by the jar, and frequently requests sauerkraut juice to drink. So, since the cranberries weren't a huge hit, I used half of the batter to bake pear muffins and the other half to make a loaf of pear-cranberry bread.

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book has a basic sweet muffin recipe that we have used once before, when we made Fresh Peach Muffins back in August. Or in my case, Raspberry-Peach muffins. The main complaint from most people about those muffins was that they were very dense. I didn't find mine terribly dense, but they were on the dry side. So this time around, I made a few changes to try to avoid either problem.

I used 1/4 cup less flour than the recipe calls for, and I used part whole wheat - 1 cup to be exact. I also used all milk instead of part milk and part cream, and used an extra 1/4 cup for a total of 1 cup. I used about twice as much diced pear as the recipe calls for, about 1 1/2 cups, and used about 1/2 cup cranberries for the half of the batter I put them in, doubling the cranberries called for. I had some molasses cookie dough in the fridge, so I baked that off to use in the crumble, and added extra ginger to the mixture. So, I didn't really follow the recipe much at all, did I? Oh, and I also used palm sugar in place of the granulated and brown sugars in the recipe.

All of my changes worked beautifully, because my muffins and bread were incredibly fluffy and moist. I'll definitely stick to my version the next time I want a sweet muffin.

Of the two versions I made, I preferred the muffins (which did not contain cranberries). I thought the bread was really tasty, too, but the cranberries really overpowered the subtle pear flavor. In the muffins, the pear really popped. I could take or leave the crumble. Actually, I'll probably leave it, because it made an enormous mess that I will probably be cleaning up for days...

Both cranberry breads were good but I prefer the one I posted yesterday. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the crumble actually detracted from it for me. It was yummy on its own, but paired with the bread, it just didn't work. Also, the Sweet Melissa recipe includes nutmeg, which normally I love in just about everything, but I'm not sure it really did anything for this bread. The Everyday Food version has no spices, which I was skeptical about at first, but I loved the result. So that will remain my go-to cranberry bread!

This week's recipe was chosen by Jennifer of Maple N' Cornbread, where you can find the recipe.



22 comments:

  1. I am certainly not going to complain about lots of cranberry recipes popping up here! I just bought a huge bag from my local warehouse club :) I loved these muffins - they were so much better than the peach ones for some reason (I did use a bit less flour). Love what you did with this recipe and both the muffins and bread look awesome. The crumble was definitely a highlight for me - bummer it didn't work for you.

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  2. Keep posting those cranberry baked goods - I love reading your comparisons. Too bad that the family aren't cranberry fans like you are. I grew up on cranberry bread and will always love the stuff. I don't think ours had spices either. Interesting about the crumble because it looks so appealing in the photos.

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  3. WOW!! 8lbs of cranberries!! I love what you did -- sounds delicious!

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  4. No complaints here about the cranberries. You come visit me this week and you will get tired of BANANANANANANANAs.

    These muffins looks delicious. And the crumble on top didn't work. Bummer.

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  5. it sounds like you discovered a much healthier but more delicious version of this muffin- very impressive!! I also have a giant bag of cranberries so I'll be happy to see more cranberry recipes from you!

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  6. I love cranberries and the cranberry recipes.
    I loved these muffins, the crumble was my favorite part.

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  7. I have several bags of cranberries in the freezer right now. I love them in so many things. Your muffins look great. Good for you for making them healthier. :)

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  8. I really like these, with the cranberries and the crumble. I used the Molasses cookies I made for TWD for my crumble. Yours look delish!

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  9. Both the muffins and the bread look beautiful. I love cranberries too, but hubby is not a fan at all.
    I love what you did to the recipe too.

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  10. I think I'm going to try your variations as well next time! Your cranberry loaf looks delicious. I agree about the crumble - nice but not necessary.

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  11. That bottom photo of your bread is beautiful!

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  12. I just stocked up on cranberries so I cannot wait to try some of your recipes!

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  13. Eight pounds of cranberries? I love cranberries, so I look forward to more yummy recipes. I'm glad you enjoyed the muffins, I love the picture of the bread surrounded in cranberries.

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  14. It is nice to see that I have been seeing lots of berry goodies here! I like berries very much! Blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, etc.! My taste buds love them all!

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  15. 8 lbs of cranberries! you have a lot of cran-baking to do! love that last picture with the cranberries around the bread - nice shot!

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  16. I almost did a bread too! The photo of the bread surrounded by the berries is beautiful.

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  17. Looks so good! I love cranberries in bread!

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  18. Keep the cranberries coming! It looks beautiful.

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  19. I LOVE cranberries so I'll be looking forward to your posts. I kind of thought the cranberry overpowered the pear as well. I was wondering what it would be like with apple instead.

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  20. are the cranberries used RAW? I'm making a cranberry pear cake and am using a bag of fresh cranberries. The recipe says "1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen." Am I supposed to cook them first or put the in the cake batter raw? Thank you!!

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  21. Shan,
    Yes, they are put in raw. They'll cook as your cake bakes.

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