Muffins make everything better

Yesterday was a nice day. I went to yoga which always makes me feel amazing. Then, I hung out at home and baked muffins. It was so relaxing just being in my pink plaid bathrobe. Everyone in my house hates my bathrobe because they say I look like an old woman in it; however, I don't care. haha It's just so warm and cozy. I can usually be seen in it when picking my sister up from school. She loves that, I'm sure. Anyway, after I got out of my bathrobe, I needed to clear my head and "get back to nature" as Emerson so eloquently puts it. I went running in South Park and watched how beautiful it was outside. I just felt so happy to be alive. The cold air going into my lungs just invigorated me and made me fun faster... okay that's stretching haha I haven't ran since August, so my speed was pretty crappy, but I still felt good. I stumbled upon a playground while running and swung on the swing-set as well. I know parents thought I was a pedifile because they were taking their kids away from the swings as soon as I got on!!! It was so funny, but I just kept swinging anyways. All in all, it was a darn good day.

Well, I've been making muffins like a madwoman these past few days. These ones were originally mini loaves, but I made them into muffins (mostly because I don't have mini loaf pans). I found them on eat me, delicious. I changed the recipe quite a bit because no one follows recipes anymore these days haha It's a thing from the past. They came out so delicious,sweet, and moist-even in muffin form. I just loved them. My main motivation for making them was to get rid of this pear that was sitting on the kitchen table. My grandma gave it to me last week because she orders pears from Harry and David. If you haven't ordered pears from there, do it now. H and D pears are sweet and huge and are great for baking. This recipe make 4 big muffins or 6 standard muffins.

Here's the recipe:
"I Want to Use Up This Pear" Muffins

3/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp yeast (quick rise)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp turbinado raw sugar
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tsp almond milk
2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce (generous)
1 large pear, cored, peeled and cut in half (mash one-half of the pear and cube the other half)
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp maple extract
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray or line with cupcake liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, yeast, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together sugar, almond milk, applesauce, mashed pear, cubed pear, and pumpkin seeds. Add the extracts to the wet mixture and stir. Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and mix together. Spoon batter into muffin tin and bake for 20-22 minutes. Since mine were bigger muffins, I baked mine for 24 minutes. Use a toothpick to check the center of muffins and let them cool for 15 minutes before popping them out.