These paleo pear muffins are one of the best almond flour muffin recipes I've ever made! These pear muffins are also grain-free, refined sugar-free, gluten free, and dairy-free. These muffins are light, fluffy, and surprisingly healthy...but nobody will know!
Jump to:
One of my New Year's resolutions for my blog is to offer more grain-free and paleo recipes on the blog. Many people who can't eat gluten have reactions to other grains and feel "stuck" when it comes to baking options.
One reason I love to use almond flour in my recipes is that it adds a protein boost. This morning, my family is enjoying fresh paleo pear muffins for breakfast.
These pear muffins made with almond flour are a delicious no-guilt breakfast your whole family will love! You will feel good in serving these healthy low-carb muffins.
If you love muffins as much as we do, you will want to check out all of my delicious gluten free muffin recipes!
Why This Muffins Recipe Is Great:
- One of the reasons I really love these muffins is because they don't taste healthy. The cinnamon flavor in these muffins adds another layer of flavor.
- You can add any fruit you have on hand when making this paleo muffin recipe.
- These paleo pear muffins are super healthy. They are filled with the good stuff, like high protein almond flour, and flaxseed meal.
- I used low glycemic coconut sugar as a sweetener.
- Go ahead and have seconds with breakfast! These delicious muffins are no-guilt!
My Paleo Carrot Breakfast Muffins are another delicious healthy muffin recipe to try! Another healthy family favorite is this Healthy Gluten Free Breakfast Donuts recipe!
Ingredient Notes:
- Almond flour - I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your muffins grainy.
- Coconut flour - A little goes a long way because it absorbs so much liquid!
- Coconut oil - You could also use vegan butter or light oil.
- Coconut sugar- You can use light or dark brown coconut sugar. If you are not paleo you can substitute brown sugar.
- Flaxseed meal - Make sure to use ground flaxseed meal and not whole flaxseeds. if you have whole seeds, you can grind them in a food processor.
- Eggs - Use size large.
- Non-Dairy Milk - I used almond milk for this recipe, but other kinds of non-dairy milk and regular milk also work.
What Are The Best Pears For Baking?
When coming up with the fruit to go into these, I decided to use ripe bosc pears. Bosc pears are sweet and a little more firm than other varieties of pear. You can use any type of pear, Anjou pears are also great! Their honey-sweet flavor adds another dimension to these muffins.
You can also use Forelle, Bartlett, Anjous, or Comice pears for baking. They all create a beautiful flavor profile.
🍎 Fun Swaps:
- Blueberries, and other berries.
- Apples (go for tart varieties like Granny Smith and Fuji)
- Nuts
- Raisins
- Cranberries, especially around the holidays!
Tips For Baking With Almond Flour
Baking with almond flour adds a great protein boost to your baked goods and helps balance out the sugars for a lower glycemic treat. Almond flour can come as an almond meal (more coarse) or as flour (best for baking!)
Almond flour doesn't absorb as much liquid as many flours so you don't need to use as much flour. In this recipe, I combine this with coconut flour to help balance it out and give more structure.
If you have a local Costco, I highly recommend finding this Almond Flour. This almond flour is by far my favorite to bake with and it is a lot less expensive compared to other brands. It is ground super fine, so baked goods don't have a gritty texture. And even better, it is certified
Tips For Baking With Coconut Flour
You will love using coconut flour in your homemade muffin recipes. I used this Coconut Flour. This brand is good because it is certified gluten free and comes in a resealable bag.
Store your coconut flour in the refrigerator after opening the bag so it doesn't go rancid. Coconut flour absorbs a TON of liquid. It is very important to note when baking with coconut flour is you need to use a lot more liquid than if you were using a gluten free flour blend.
Baking with coconut flour adds a different texture to baked goods than you may be used to. Note that these muffins are softer than when you use a gluten free flour blend.
Items baked with coconut flour do not hold together as strongly because they don't contain Xanthan gum, which acts as a glue in gluten free baking. I include the Xanthan Gum in this recipe so these muffins will hold up well.
Recipe Step By Step Directions:
Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk them together. In a smaller bowl, add the wet ingredients.
To measure your gluten free flour, I recommend using either the spoon method or leveling method.
Spoon Method: You can also use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. Use a knife to level along the top to remove the extra flour.
Leveling Method: Put the measuring scoop into the flour and fill. Do not pack the flour. Use a knife to scrape along the top to remove the extra flour.
Step 2: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until the batter is just barely mixed. Let the batter sit in the mixing bowl for 5 minutes so the coconut flour absorbs moisture.
Step 3: As I mentioned earlier, coconut flour needs a lot of moisture so if your batter isn't the same consistency as the above photo, it is completely okay to add more liquid.
Step 4: Add the muffin batter to a paper-lined muffin tin. I highly recommend using parchment paper muffin papers because they are non-stick.
Step 5: You will want to bake your paleo muffins for 25-30 minutes at 350º F.
You will know if your muffins are finished baking by doing a simple test. To test if your muffins are done baking by inserting a toothpick into a muffin. If it comes up with no crumbs or batter, your muffins are ready!
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
If you want your muffins to have a domed style top, bake at 425º F for the first 5 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350.º F
You can use either sugar for this recipe.
Some people can't have coconut oil. I would recommend using avocado oil or canola oil.
These pear muffins will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer. To thaw the frozen muffins, just place them on a counter for 15 minutes until they are at room temperature. You can also microwave frozen muffins for 35 seconds to thaw.
Allow your muffins to cool on a wire cooling rack! Note this post was updated from an older January 2015 post with more detailed information.
More Gluten Free Muffin Recipes:
- Quick and Easy Zucchini Muffins
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Muffins
- Light & Fluffy Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Paleo Strawberry Muffins
Recipe
Paleo Pear Muffins
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour * see note
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour * see note
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder aluminum free
- Dash of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup coconut oil * see note
- 1 cup almond milk * see note
- 1 bosc pear
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- Chop the pear into bite-sized pieces. You do not have to peel the pears.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients. Whisk to blend the ingredients together,
- In a medium bowl, add all wet ingredients and chopped pears and mix into a muffin batter. Coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid so if you need to add more liquid, this is fine to do.
- Line a muffin tin with parchment paper muffin liners.
- Pour the batter into the muffin cups, almost to the top. These muffins don't rise a ton.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until done.
Notes
- Note that coconut flour absorbs a LOT more moisture than regular gluten free flours. You may need to add a little more liquid in if you find your brand of coconut flour makes your batter too thick!
- Baking with almond flour adds a great protein boost to your baked goods and helps balance out the sugars for a lower glycemic treat. Almond flour can come as an almond meal (more coarse) or as flour (best for baking!) Almond flour doesn't absorb as much liquid as many flours so you don't need to use as much flour. In this recipe, I combine this with coconut flour to help balance it out and give more structure.
- These muffins will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Feel free to use any fruit you have on hand to make these grain-free muffins.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
If you love the recipes you are finding on my blog, I would love for you to sign up for my newsletter (and get my free gluten free lemon desserts e-cookbook!)
Kristel
I loved the flavour of these muffins, but i cooked mine for an hour and they were still really moist inside, almost like porridge. Any ideas what happened? I followed the recipe except for the xantan gum, which I substituted with physsilum husk.
I broke them up, sprinkled with roasted almonds and topped with wiped cream, it made for a delicious desert, but I would really like for them to be more muffiny next time. I would really appreciate any tip you could give.
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Kristel, I am glad you liked these muffins, but I am puzzled at the long cook time. Could you please tell me which brands of coconut flour and milk you used? I haven't had this happen so I just want to double check...sometimes canned milks can do this, especially coconut.
Jannah
I had this same issue! I used Bobs Red Mill for almond flour, coconut flour, & xanthan gum.I was going to use less almond milk next time to see if that helped. They are delicious though!
Rochelle
Hi, I don’t use Xanthan Gum - is it necessary in this recipe or is there something I could use instead?
Thanks
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Rochelle, I would say to try guar gum instead? If you can't use gums, I am not sure. The coconut flour doesn't hold together very well without something
Abeer Rizvi
I love how I can add other fruits to give these muffins a new spin every time I bake them!
Sandi Gaertner
It definitely keeps things fun when you can switch around the fruit in this muffin recipe.
Pam Greer
This is exactly the kind of muffin recipe that I have been looking for! While, I don't need to go grain free, I like the idea of using almond flour for the protein boost! I even have some pears in my fridge!
Sandi Gaertner
I love that the protein boost can balance out the sugars 🙂