Ginger pear muffins

Tonight is girl scout night, which means my daughter will come home chock full of snacks. I have to feed her something for dinner, but the way the evening goes... We barely have time for homework and she never has an appetite. So, I wondered if muffins might work. Having only canned fruit in the house, I wondered if pear muffins might work.

I found a recipe from the Canadian Living test kitchen online for Ginger Pear muffins and I thought yum...

Thus far, the foray has been difficult.

Ingredients for batter:
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour (I used 1.5 unbleached white and 1 whole wheat)
- 1 tsp baking soda
-  1 tsp ground ginger (for a moment I thought I had run out of Ginger)
- 1/2 tsp salt (I used fresh ground sea salt)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I almost doubled it)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar ( I got out my light brown and my dark brown, planning to mix things up a bit)
-1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used mostly canola and then a few drops of walnut oil)
- 1 egg (now I went back and forth between using an egg versus applesauce. I went with the egg. For a vegan version, use 4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce)
- 1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup soy milk whisked with maybe 1.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar)
- 2 cups chopped pears

Topping:
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp butter melted (unless you're an idiot like me and use 2 tablespoons)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger (like I measured, I just sprinkled it on)

My additions:
Whole oats
Crystallized Ginger, chopped

What was supposed to happen:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin pans (12-- I always prep 18 because what do you do if there is excess? I used all 18)

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, Ginger and cinnamon. I also added about 1 tablespoon tiny chopped crystallized Ginger.

In a separate bowl, whisk brown sugar with oil. Now, my brown sugar was hard as a rock. And I salvaged what I can using ever trick I ever knew. I got some. Not sure how much. Whisk in egg and then buttermilk.

Sprinkle with pears and combine everything. Stir until just mixed. Spoon into tins.

Okay, good. Now let me tell you, my batter was elastic. It so rang back into the tin when I tried to maneuver it. Weird.

Okay, topping.

In a bowl, combine topping ingredients. Now stir and sprinkle on muffins. Except I misread teaspoons for tablespoons and now have brown sugar soup. Besides, who every heard of making crumb topping with melted butter. Doesn't everyone use soft?

I add a teaspoon of flour. Still soup. I add a couple tablespoons of oats. That's as good as they'll get I think.

Baking for 25 minutes. Smell awesome.