Pear Almond Muffins

I don't know if it's just me, but I rarely eat pears. I never find them perfectly ripe - they're either hard and tasteless, or mushy and grainy. It seems that they have a very short "perfect period", and I can (almost) never time it. And I don't like throwing things away. So I have to come up with decent ways to use up pears. (This is also a problem with bananas, but I have many more ideas for that.)

So, these pears - a little on the unripe side by the way - were made into muffins, along loads of almonds and some white chocolate. Delicious combination, and I urge you to try it! The freeze very well, and they can even be eaten directly from frozen - my husband does.

Pear Almond Muffins
(printable recipe)
12 small and 12 regular-sized muffins

200 g butter
200 g sugar
200 g almonds (mine happened to be blanched, but yours don't have to be)
100 g white chocolate, chopped
4 eggs
250 ml flour (1 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
300 g pears, peeled and finely diced

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Grind the almonds in an almond grinder if you have it, or process very finely in a food processor. Stir into the butter mixture, along with the white chocolate. Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir to combine well. Add the flour and baking powder, and finally the pears.

Dollop into muffin cases, and bake at 200�C for 10 (small) - 15 minutes (regular-sized).

Recipe in Swedish:
P�ronmuffins med mandel