I don’t mind working. Writing, baking, blogging, these are things I love to do, so even though I pretty much never have a day truly off, it does not typically bother me. Every now and again, I do get a little restless, bored, or almost burnt out. Some days I just want to do something purely fun.
Practicality goes out the window. Frivolity is the name of the game. Maybe I go shopping or to a fashion show. Maybe there’s a musical or event that is calling my name. I get all dressed up, tell myself to stop worrying, and simply have a good time. But there are other days when the glamourizing process itself doesn’t seem like a whole lot of fun. Curlers making my head hurt, makeup that will be a pain to remove later, dresses with built in corsets, and my feet stuffed into high heels. Okay, so for the most part I love all of those things each and every time I get ready, but we’ve all had those days where we just want to stay home, for me they have to do with yucky weather more than anything.
Movies with Mom, video games, catching up on TiVo, reading. Those are the fun things that fill days at home. But when life is crazy and a day off is not possible, then I want to have fun in the kitchen. Baking is almost always fun, but when it’s your job, there are moments of frustration for sure. A few silly ingredients can make for a fun recipe and a fun day.
I’m not ashamed to admit I got really excited when I heard about those crazy holiday Pringle flavors. I had to get my hands on them. After stockpiling them without even a taste, sorry it’s probably my fault if you cannot find them, I’ve only tried the Cinnamon Sugar ones and have to admit they are kind of awesome. They taste like Pringles with a hint of cinnamon.
Instantly I wanted to make a streusel with them because why not? I took my all-time favorite, foolproof muffin recipe, made with pecans and my favorite Warren Pears from Frog Hollow Farm (if you think you don’t like pears, these will change your mind forever), and then topped them with a crazy streusel doctored up with Cinnamon Sugar Pringles.
The muffins themselves are moist, have great fall spices, and the pears add such lovely flavor. But that streusel, it’s a star. Moist and soft, with a bit of a granular texture, the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and oil coats the Pringle pieces, as the flavors and textures of both the muffin and streusel blend seamlessly. The nuggets where pieces of chip are fully coated with cinnamon sugar goodness are like finding hidden treasure. It’s hard to resist removing them from all of the muffins. But it’s the holiday season; we have to share. Be sure to taste both the batter and the streusel unbaked – they are amazing. Potato chips? Yeah, they’ll be making more muffin appearances. This was definitely a fun day in the kitchen.
Pear and Pringle Muffins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 10 1x
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup pecans, toasted
- 2 cups pears, diced
- ¼ cup almond milk
Streusel
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 10 Cinnamon Sugar Pringles, crushed into medium sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil 10 cups in a muffin tin. Paper liners may alternatively be used.
- Make the muffins. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- In a large bowl, stir together sugar, oil, and vanilla until fully combined. Mix in the eggs thoroughly. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix until a thick dough is formed. Add the pecans and pears and mix to combine. If the dough is still thick, add the almond milk until a still stick, yet pourable batter is formed. How much you add will depend on the juiciness of your pears. I added the entire ¼ cup.
- Make the streusel. In a small bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add Pringles and stir until distributed. Drizzle in oil, and stir until small clumps are formed.
- Using a regular sized ice cream scoop, scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling all the way to the top. Top each muffin with streusel, gently pressing it into the batter. Bake for 22-25 minutes, rotating halfway through if necessary, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan.
- Gently remove muffins from the tin, by loosening the tops, then swiftly forcing a spatula down the side of each cup, pushing the muffin out. May be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen, wrapped in parchment and foil and placed in a zipper bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 2 hours, or in a 350 degree F for about 20 minutes.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for an autographed copy of Giada de Laurentiis’ cookbook!
What!? They make cinnamon pringles?? That’s crayy cray! I think it’s totally brilliant that you made a streusel with them-that’s just good sense 🙂
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Thank you, Kayle! Potato chips totally belong in breakfast. They have good vitamins and minerals, right 😉 You have to try these Pringles, they are shockingly tasty.
We just bought some Pringles to send in the package to Chris but they ended up not fitting with all the other stuff we bought. I didn’t see the ones you used but I did purchase the jalapeño flavored ones and although I am not a Pringles lover, I did like those. The muffins with the Cinnamon flavored ones sounds pretty good as well….
I love jalapeno chips. I’ll have to try the Pringle ones. I like the Cinnamon ones by themselves, but they pair really well with the muffins.
OH MY GOSH! I was just viewing The Hot Plate where they accepted my Strawberry Santas and next to my post was what I thought was the coolest and “Kalamity Kelli” – Like recipe I had seen in a while. It was called Pear and Pringle Muffins. I clicked on it and decided right away I wanted to make them. Apparently, at the same time, you were viewing my Coconut Roulade! Isn’t it funny how things work? I LOVE this recipe and I am thrilled with the idea of using Pringles as streusel – mostly because I can see myself doing it in a pinch! 🙂 Great post!
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That is so cool and funny that we were looking at each other’s sites! Thank you for visiting, Kelli 🙂 I really love using different foods in baking because sometimes the craziest ideas turn out really well.
Beautiful muffins! What a rich color! Love pears!
Thanks, Julia! I love baking muffins without paper liners because it promotes browning. Also, they have to bake quite awhile with all the fresh fruit, so you get this wonderful exterior, while they’re still soft on the inside. I make different versions of these muffins all the time. Can’t get enough of them.
I have never seen Pringles with cinnamon sugar but I can imagine they might be slightly addictive, like the regular Pringles! Looks like you had fun using them in your pear muffins, which look beautiful and delicious;-)
Thank you, Patty 🙂 The Pringles are definitely addictive.
Please don’t tell my kids that they make cinnamon sugar pringles. They’ll fill my house with them! I had no idea they had holiday flavored pringles, but am also way impressed with your resourcefulness in using them to make a streusel. Brilliant!
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Thank you, Vanessa, and thanks for visiting. I am always on the lookout for fun holiday foods. I wasn’t sure how the Pringles would taste, but I was definitely impressed with them. I have to admit, I kind of filled my house with them 😉
You are so creative!!! These look delish and I love that you put pringles in your strussel!
Thank you so much 🙂 I am now convinced Pringles always belong in streusel.
Okay, where did you find the Pringles?! I have been looking everywhere! (Yes, I am that crazy person who hunts out random foods she reads about on blogs.) I’m afraid this is going to be like the Great Candy Corn Oreos Debacle of 2012 where everyone found the specialty Oreos except me. Cue the tiny violins for my first world problems… : (
Pringles jealous aside, these muffins look fantastic! I love me a good pear muffin, and these sound perfect.
Thanks for visiting, Elizabeth! I hunt for foods that I hear about all the time. I found the Pringles at Walmart and Kroger. They don’t seem to be as hard to find as the Candy Corn Oreos, which I also got before they suddenly vanished. Have you tried the Gingerbread Oreos? Even better than the candy Corn ones!
The muffins are very tasty. Love the crunch of the Pringles.
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Muffins don’t typically have a lot of crunch, but those Pringles really lead to a balance in texture.
Great idea!
Thank you so much! I like to mix things up and make unexpected desserts.
Oh my! Pringles in a muffin sounds amazing. I need these…like now.
I can relate; I never get a day off either, but I wouldn’t change it.
Thanks, Jennie! These are so yummy 🙂 It’s strange how in this day and age with being so connected, I’m always working or doing something, but I wouldn’t change it either because I love what I do so much.
What an unusual but TOTALLY DELICIOUS sounding recipe!! I’m so in the mood for muffins, too. I love the combination of sweet and salty. Man, if only I was so lucky to have a job that is only writing, baking and blogging! Do you blog full time?
These muffins are so good. I reheated a frozen one this morning. The topping is killer! I divide my time between working on manuscripts I am trying to get published and blogging. I work constantly at trying to grow my blog and make a real living from it. I think and hope I’ll get there soon.