Top of the muffin to you!

Pear Granola Muffins, originally uploaded by One of the many Mudricks.

Have you ever seen that Seinfeld? You can relate almost every incident in life to a Seinfeld episode, so here I am doing it. Basically the episode talks about how good the top of the muffin is and they open a store just selling the tops, but they have issues figuring out what to do with the "stumps". Well, let me tell you the tops of these muffins are DELECTABLE! (the stump is pretty good, too). Yesterday we had a playgroup at our house with about 10 moms and 17 kids. Of course I made food. It wasn't anything extravagant because I wasn't sure what the snow prediction would amount to. We settled for: Chocolate Croissants, Pear Granola Muffins, Squash, Tomato and Mozzarella Tart and Fresh Fruit. The kids downed the croissants, fruit and muffins. I think the moms horded the tart for themselves. B didn't get any muffins so we decided to make some more. They were still delicious.
Here's the recipe. I adapted it from Martha's Food magazine.

Pear Granola Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (this is just what I had--the original recipe had plain)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 D'Anjou pears, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1/3 cup granola (I had vanilla almond from Trader Joes so I used that)

For Granola Crisp Topping: (or use 3/4 cup plain granola)

1/2 cup granola
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin (I used some mini--just be sure you dice the pears smaller)with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and mix in flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the granola and pears.

Make Granola Crisp Topping: In a bowl, toss together 1/2 cup granola, 1/4 cup each all-purpose flour and packed light-brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into pieces; add to granola mixture, and rub in with fingertips until clumps form.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.


So, enjoy! But I think you should all try cutting off the top and eating it separately, just for Elaine's sake.