Spiced Pear and Almond Muffins with whole wheat flour and milled flaxseed.
Baking is becoming a bonding ritual with my son lately. I know that I will never have a daughter and I have tried to interest my son in dolls, colouring, and other so-called girly things so that I can find something to do with him that I can relate to. My husband plays well with him; he wrestles, makes paper airplanes and builds things with him. Since I was making muffins again, I figured the best thing to do was include him. I didn’t make a grand lesson out of it; I just had him help. Some may be more intentional about using these experiences as teachable moments but I was content to have him there with me with no other purpose than to wrap my arms around him as we stirred the muffins together.
One of the many things about my boy is that I love is that he is very effusive with his praise. As he stood on his stool, pouring the ingredients into the bowl for these muffins, he exclaimed, “This is the best day ever!” This is something he says often and when I asked him why on this day, he responded, “Because I get to make something with you.” It really is as simple as that.
He is such a sweet boy but watch out when his temper flares. As affectionate and tender as he is, he is equally passionate when he gets enraged. I suppose that he is just honest with his emotions no matter what they are. We just need him to work on calming down a little better. Timothy can also be quite melodramatic. He was under the weather last week and he was crying at the dinner table because he was hurting. He laid his head on him arms and whined, “I can’t believe this is happening to me.” He got lots of cuddles from his mama that night but I admit, we did chuckle at his mournful query about his lot in life.
It is the times when he needs cuddles and caring that I find I’m the best for the job. My husband can throw him in the air and wrestle, but when he gets sick or hurt, I am there with the ice pack and gentle hugs.
If you are a mother of sons or father of daughters and you find yourself left out because you see your interests diverging from those of your child, how do you reconnect? Do you dive in head first to their passions? Do you draw them in to what you are interested in or do you try to find some middle ground? My boy is only little and I will have another baby boy soon enough but I often see myself on the sidelines in a ‘boy zone’ house surrounded by action figures and train sets.
This is the second post in a brief series for Almond Breeze almond milk. I’m very happy with the results of using almond milk in baking and in smoothies. I’m still a fan of cream and milk since my family doesn’t have any issue with dairy, but almond milk is a great alternative. Keep this in mind if you have friends or family who have allergies or sensitivities to dairy. Our good friends’ son is deathly allergic to milk and my father-in-law does not have dairy anymore because he finds he feels much healthier without it so we were already conscious of alternatives to dairy. This opportunity with Almond Breeze gave the the impetus to experiment with baking with almond milk. If you haven’t tried baking with almond milk before, give it a go. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Almond Breeze almond milk. All opinions are my own.
Spiced Pear and Almond Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup ground almond
- 1/4 cup milled flaxseed
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- pinch of cloves
- pinch of allspice
- 1/2 cup almond milk plain or vanilla
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup local honey
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup grated pear 1 medium sized pear, grated
- 1 tbsp flaked almonds optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and fill a muffin tin with cupcake papers.
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, ground almonds, flaxseed, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set it aside.
- In a medium bowl mix together the almond milk, eggs, oil, honey and brown sugar.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and stir lightly with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are half combined with the wet. Add the grated pear and fully stir together the wet and dry ingredients. The batter should remain lumpy.
- Using a large spoon or an ice cream scoop, fill the cupcake papers. Top with flaked almonds if desired.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of a muffin.
- Best if served that day. Makes 12.
Pears are often pushed to the side in favor of apples, but I absolutely love them! These sound delicious! Some of the best memories I have growing up are baking with my mom. I’m glad your son can have that too!
Thanks! Sometimes only the crunch and tartness of an apple will do but I’ve been hooked on pears the past couple weeks.
As a mother of two boys, I totally relate…I too had them help in the kitchen…it is a good teaching tool as well with measuring, etc. There is also the great satisfaction of knowing when they are older, they are very capable of feeding themselves! Yesterday Matthew made me breakfast for my birthday, although the clean up left a bit to be desired! Michael regularly takes his turn in the kitchen, giving his wife a break. Someday, hopefully you will be as lucky as I am, and have a wonderful daughter-in-law, with which you can share girls things…like old movies(ones without great explosions, blood and mayhem), shopping, sipping wine, etc…
I have a feeling that the cleaning will be an issue here as well. 🙂 It is a good thing that I like superhero movies but it will be nice to not have to watch chick flicks by myself or with a sullen man nearby. Fingers crossed these boys of mine find lovely ladies for themselves someday.