Overnight pear-almond bran muffins

These sound healthy, but they're good anyway. I'm not always a fan of bran muffins, at least not the kind that seem more like sawdust. But these are moist and tasty.

The original recipe called for either powdered ginger or crystallized ginger. At the time I first made these I lived in a backwater where powdered ginger was all that was available, and these tasted dandy. When I moved to the land where tasty food is widely available, I tried it with the crystallized variety, but didn't actually like them as well. I decided the key was to use both.

While they are tasty, one of the best things about this is that you can mix up the batter up to three days in advance of baking them, and can bake off just as many as you need.

Refrigerated Pear-Almond Muffins

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, January 1994

Ingredients

1 cup whole bran cereal

1 cup milk

1¼ cups flour

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger (plus more for optional garnish)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup peeled chopped pears

1 beaten egg

¼ cup cooking oil

2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Method

Combine cereal and milk and let stand 5 minutes.

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger powder, chopped ginger and salt. Toss together with pears.

Add egg and oil to cereal mixture stir to combine. Stir into pear mixture. 

Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners or grease well. Fill muffin cups about ¾ full (a scant ¼ cup or so in each). Makes 14-16 muffins.  

Sprinkle sliced almonds on top along with additional crystallized ginger if desired. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until done.

Rating: A nice Sunday breakfast treat that's not overly sweet. I have made this countless times over the decades.