Pear and Oat Bran Walnut Muffins

I came up with a recipe for pear walnut muffins using oat bran, whole wheat flour, and fresh pears. I added Organic Pear Juice with no added sugars for some additional flavor.  The result is a light muffin with a mild pear flavor.  As prepared each muffin contains approximately 98 calories.  If light brown sugar had been used instead of the Xylitol (Ideal Brown), the calorie count per muffin would be about 108.

Pear and Oat Bran Walnut Muffins

3/4 cup unsweetened Pear Juice
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup Ideal Brown sweetener (or light brown sugar if preferred)
1 cup Oat Bran Hot Cereal (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pears (I used 1 Red Anjou Pear)

My local supermarket sells R.W. Knudsen brand Organic Unsweetened Pear Juice.  I found it in the Health Food Section. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl mix together pear juice, egg, honey, sour cream, vegetable oil, applesauce, vanilla, and ideal brown sweetener until smooth.

In a seperate large bowl mix together Hot Oat Bran Cereal, Whole Wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chopped walnuts.

Add sour cream and egg mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine.  Gently fold in chopped and peeled pears.

Add muffin liners to a muffin tin.  Add muffin batter until each is about 2/3 full.

 Place in preheated 400 degree oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.

This recipe yields about 24 muffins containing approximately 98 calories per muffin.  Enjoy!