Ingredients
- 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup superfine brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup dark amber maple syrup
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
- 2 medium-size Bartlett pears
- 2 tablespoons chopped natural pistachios, for garnish
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until
it starts to bubble and the milk solids start to brown on the bottom of the pan. It will
take about 5 minutes and will smell like roasting nuts. Remove the pan from the heat
and transfer the brown butter to a clean bowl to cool.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the superfine brown rice flour, almond flour, tapioca
starch, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla seeds
and brown butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined.
4. Grate the pears using a box grater, skin and all. Fold the grated pear into the batter.
5. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and, using an ice-cream scoop, fill the liners with
the batter about three-quarters of the way full. Sprinkle the tops with chopped
pistachios.
6. Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center
comes out clean. Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
They will keep in therefrigerator, tightly wrapped, for up to three days.