breakfast

Chocolate Chip & Pear Muffins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 12 People;e

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature plus 2 T for sauteing pears
1/2 cup sugar plus 2 T for sauteing pears
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs at room temperature
2 large pears, ripe but firm I used Anjou. Peel, cut off core and slice into 3/4" cubes. If organic, I leave the skin on.
1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste optional
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice 1/4 of a lemon squeezed
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup plain, whole milk yogurt Not low-fat. You want the full fat for baking!
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium size saute pan, add the 2 Tbsp. of butter. When it beings to sizzle, add the cut pears. Add the lemon juice over them and the 2 Tbsp. of sugar along with the 1 Tbsp. of vanilla bean paste. Cook 4-5 minutes, until golden. You do not want them to be mushy; you just want them to absorb the sugar, vanilla and butter and be cooked a litte, but still hold their shape. Set aside to cool.
Line a sheet pan with muffin cups or line the muffin tin. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and salt on low, then bump to medium, then high speed. Mix two-three minutes till fluffy. Stop the mixer at one point and push down any mixture stuck on the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula. Mix again. Break both eggs into a bowl and incorporate one at a time into the mixture, beating with the addition of each egg.
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, almond flour, baking powder and soda. Mix well with a fork. Mix the vanilla into the yogurt. Add half the dry mixture and half of the yogurt mixture and half of the cooked pears into the mixing bowl. Gently turn the mixer to medium and mix for half a minute. Mix in the rest of the dry, yogurt mixture and cooked pears using a spatula to get all the delicious pear goo from the pan. Mix again for half a minute. Scrape any batter off the paddle and add the cup of chocolate chips. Finish folding with a large spatula. You gently want to fold this in, but make sure the chips are incorporated throughout the mixture.
Fill each muffin cup to the top. Sprinkle each with the remaining sugar. You could keep a few cooked pear cubes to add to the top of each filled muffin cup and then sprinkle each with a big of sugar. (every muffin tin is different so you could get 11 cups filled to the top instead of 12.)
Bake for 10 minutes and turn the muffin tin around and bake for another 10 minutes. The muffins should have some color and a toothpick should come out clean when poked inside a muffin. If the toohtpick is a little wet, cook another 2-3 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Notes: These are great the next day. I just left out and covered with a cloth. I made 12 muffins, but if using the French muffin cups that stand up by themselves on a tray, you could fill 11. You want them to be filled to the top. The vanilla bean paste gives it an extra vanilla depth and you can see the flecks of vanilla in the muffins. The muffins are still delicious without it. I used an Anjou, but any pear would do. Great for a holiday morning or just your regular Sunday breakfast with coffee or tea. Could even be used as a dessert. Just cut in half, warm on a sheet pan for five minutes @ 350° and top with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Peach Galette

Free form, flat tart

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

4-6 whole peaches ripe and depends on size, I use medium
6 T butter European Style the best
6 ounces all purpose flour plus a little extra for rolling out the dough
2 ounces einkorn flour You could omit this and use all AP Flour
5 T cold water May use all or less water or more
pinch salt
2 T honey for drizzling at end
1/2 Lemon for squeezing over cut peaches
1 T Sugar I like to use sugar in the raw, fine
2 T Sugar for adding to the galette before baking

Instructions

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix together. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and drop into the flour. With both hands, work the butter into the flour. It is okay to have small chunks of butter in the mixture. With one hand, pour the water slowing into the flour mixture and with the other hand bring the flour mixture together until it holds. Form into a disk.
Take the disk and with the heel of your hand push the mixture away from you, a tablespoon at a time (this is called frisage. ) It makes for a wonderful crust. Reform the disk, flatten out and lay onto a piece of large parchment paper, wrap up and put in the fridge. Let chill for at least an hour. Take the dough out and let set at room temperature for at least 8 minutes or until it is workable. During this time, take each peach, cut in half and remove the pit. Take each half and cut into thin half moon shapes, about 1/8" thick. Lay each sliced half onto a large platter. When you are finished slicing all of the peaches, squeeze the half lemon over all of them.
Unfold the parchment paper and lift up the dough. Sprinkle a little flour underneath it and begin to roll out the dough. I have rolled the dough into a round shape but I also like to roll it out into a rectangle. I find it fits better into a sheet pan this way. You should be able to roll the dough into a 14"X8" rectangle. Crimp the edges. This is where the parchment paper comes in handy, I gently lift up the paper and place paper and dough into a half sheet pan. I trim any edges of the paper that overhangs from the edge of the pan.
Layout the first peach as close to the crimped edge as possible and layer the rest down in a verticle row. Start again, and do the same until you fill the entire square of dough. If you have extra slices see if you can fit them elsewhere into the layout. If you need more, cut another peach up. Take the half sheet pan and place in the refrigerator. Let chill for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees on a convection oven with the fan or 400 degrees for a regular oven. Before you place the galette in the oven, sprinkle 2 T. of the sugar in the raw evenly over the entire tart. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the tart around and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Every oven is a little different. You want the crust to be nice and brown. You may need less time or a little more.
Take out the galette and drizzle the honey over all the cooked peaches Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Serve in square wedges, along with a dollop of creme fraiche, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or creme chantilly. Enjoy with a glass of Cava or a great cup of coffee.

Recipe Notes

Peaches could be substituted for ripe pears, thinly sliced apples ( I slice apples even thinner). Nectarines or whole half apricots that I may have poached in a little simple syrup and let cool completely before laying and layering into the galette dough.