Have you tried ginger with pear yet? It is such am amazing flavor combination that I just can't get enough of it at this time of year! In the latest installment of my ginger-pear obsession, I've created a recipe for sourdough Einkorn ginger pear muffins.
(If you want a non-sourdough ginger pear muffin recipe, I've got one for you right here!)
So, what's this new recipe got going for it?
It's sourdough, which means that the flour in this recipe is more digestible and more nutritious.
It's Einkorn, so it has more protein, less gluten, and more nutrition than modern wheat.
It's only mildly sweetened with unrefined sweetener, not a sugar bomb. Instead, the sweet flavor of the pears shines through.
The sourdough combined with baking powder gives these muffins a fantastic rise, so they're nice and fluffy. Just look at how pretty they are!
It's ginger-pear! So obviously it's yummy. :)
Make sure the pears you use in this recipe are ripe and soft. If your pears are still hard, leave them on the counter for a few days to soften and ripen.
The sourdough starter I use in this recipe is active and bubbly. So, if you're doing the only-feed-it-once-a-week-and-keep-it-in-the-fridge sourdough method like I am, you will need to pull out your starter and feed it early in the day, then leave it on the counter so it can get nice and bubbly before you put this recipe together.
For fresh morning muffins, you'll need to get this recipe started the night before you want to bake the muffins.
Sourdough Einkorn Ginger Pear Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
For the overnight ferment:
1 cup active Einkorn sourdough starter
1&1/2 cups Einkorn all-purpose flour (I use Jovial brand)
1/3 cup sucanat
1/2 cup whole milk kefir (or substitute plain whole milk yogurt, thinned just a little with some milk to make it runnier)
To add in the morning:
2 large eggs, preferably from pastured hens
1/2 tsp fine-ground Celtic sea salt
1 tsp dried ginger
1&1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
6 Tb melted butter
1&1/4 cup diced ripe pears from ~2 medium pears (I leave the skin on for extra nutrition, but do whatever works for you!)
The night before you want to bake the muffins, combine the Einkorn sourdough starter, Einkorn flour, sucanat, and milk kefir in a large bowl.
Stir to combine. This batter will be very thick, and that's totally fine. Make sure there is some headspace at the top of your bowl, because this will rise overnight.
Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature overnight.
In the morning, you will probably see that your batter has risen overnight, and likely even fallen some. Don't worry; the baking powder in this recipe will make sure that you get a nice rise in the recipe regardless.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off heat and allow to cool a bit.
Line your muffin tin with paper liners. I like If You Care unbleached muffin papers because they are naturally non-stick!
Dice your pears into little bits. You'll probably need a little less than 2 pears for this recipe, depending on size.
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, salt, ginger, and baking powder. Use a mixer to mix these ingredients together well.
Mix the egg mixture and melted butter into your Einkorn batter. This will work best if you use a machine mixer instead of trying to do it by hand. Mix just until everything is well incorporated (and don't overmix).
Fold in the diced pears.
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups. I like to use a 3-Tb scoop, which makes it really easy to have evenly-filled muffin cups.
Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until the muffins have started to brown on top.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and enjoy!
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