
May 27, 2016
updated
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Today’s Pear Muffins with cinnamon crumble topping are a favorite at my house. They’re soft on the inside, with a fluffy, airy texture. And then topped with a crisp crumble. So Good.

There are two recipes that are sure to win over my children for breakfast are pancakes and muffins. But when it comes to muffins, “the ones with crumbly topping on top are the best!” as my daughter likes to say.
My grandmother used to use canned pears in her pear crumble muffin recipe and I’ve continued that tradition with these quick and delicious muffins.
As a child living in Spain, I spent most afternoons and weekends at my grandmother’s house. Over the years, I learned to appreciate the love and kindness that went into every meal she cooked. But baking, though, those were special treats reserved for the weekend.
As an inquisitive child, I would ask a lot of questions that I’m sure my grandmother found to be repetitive and possibly annoying. You know, the type of questions that would start with “why” and end with “but why?”
To her credit, she never grew tired of explaining why things had to be done in a certain way in the kitchen. It’s because of her answers that I am now able to create easy shortcuts in many recipes or know why it’s good to use canned fruit in many of her baked goods recipes.
She’d say that canned fruit has a consistent texture that always cooks evenly. And, even with small baked goods like muffins, the result would be fruit with a softer texture that is pleasant with every bite. This isn’t always the case with fresh fruit, as it often takes longer than the baking time for it to soften up. Plus, the canned pears in this recipe are high in moisture, so they help the muffins have a softer and fluffier texture.

Pear Muffin Ingredients
Aside from the can of pears all you need to make these muffins a reality is the usual baking ingredients such as:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Butter or coconut oil, melted
- Brown sugar
- White sugar
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- 15 oz. can Pear Halves in Pear Juice
Pear Muffin Recipe
Soft and fluffy muffins with tender pears don’t bake themselves, so let’s get to it!
- Prepare
Preheat oven to 375F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or generously grease and flour each cavity. - Make the crumble topping
In a medium bowl, combine ⅓ cup all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon white sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon, stir with a fork. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture becomes a crumbly topping. - Mix the dry ingredients for the muffins
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 teaspoons baking powder. Set aside. - Prepare the batter
In a separate large bowl or the bowl of your food processor, combine ½ cup melted butter (or coconut oil), ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup milk, 2 eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. - Combine
Gradually add in flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined, careful not to over mix. Gently fold in chopped pears. - Pour into Muffin Cups
Divide the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them about ¾ full. Top with the crumble topping (you might have a little extra) and bake for 22-25 minutes until the crumble tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. - Remove and Cool
Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool prior to serving. Grab your beverage of choice with a muffin and bite in!

Cinnamon Crumble
Crispy, crumbly muffins tops are the best part and this cinnamon crumble is a perfect all-purpose topping for any muffin recipe! You can add it to blueberry muffins, banana muffins, or a coffee cake.
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
In a medium bowl, combine ⅓ cup all-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon white sugar, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon, stir with a fork. Add the melted butter and stir until the mixture becomes a crumbly topping.

From here, you can top it over any muffin or coffee cake of choice! Speaking of- if crumble toppings and coffee cake is your type of thing, let me introduce you to these Coffee Crumble Cake Muffins. Two desserts in one glorious, delicious muffin!
As I share many of her recipes in this blog and my cookbooks; one of the questions that I’m often asked is if she left me a recipe book of sorts. Sadly, no. My aunt Amparo is a chef, and thankfully she has written down many of my grandmother’s recipes as cooked them along with her over the years.
And this recipe is one of them. Check out how easy these muffins are to make:
What I love about this particular recipe is that the crumbly topping gives it a fanciness of sorts, but in truth, it’s simple to make. And, to make them ultra convenient, the batter can be made the night before, the pan can be lined and filled, and baked in the morning.
Because really, who has time to measure flour early in the morning barely caffeinated? Not this girl. My husband jokes that I don’t get breakfast started until the first cup of coffee kicks in, so there is always that!
The crumbly topping of this muffin not only looks fantastic but will leave you wanting more.

After these pear muffins, be sure to try my Coffee Cake Muffins with crumbly cinnamon topping and these amazing Healthy Banana Oatmeal Muffins.

Pear Muffins with Cinnamon Crumble
Ingredients
For the crumble:
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour*
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
For the muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil, melted
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 15 ounce can of pear halves in pear juice, drained, (about 1 ½ cups chopped) or 2 fresh pears, peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or generously grease and flour each cavity.
- Prepare the crumble toppings by combining with a fork the dry crumble ingredients in a medium bowl. Then, pour the melted butter into the mixture and with the fork or by using your hands, combine the mixture into a crumbly topping. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, for the muffin dough, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your food processor, combine melted butter (or coconut oil), brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Gradually add in flour mixture into the wet mixture until just combined, careful to not over mix. Gently fold in chopped pears.
- Divide batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them about ¾ full. Top with crumble topping (you might have a little extra) and bake, for 22-25 minutes until the crumble tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool prior to serving.
Jessica
About ti make these! Can I freeze them for an expecting mama? If so how? Should I freeze them already baked or freeze the batter in muffin liners? If so do I let thaw before baking?
Laura Fuentes
You can absolutely freeze these before baking but after baking will be much more appreciated! Bring them over frozen and all she’ll have to do is thaw it out on the counter or lightly microwave for an oven-fresh feel!
Elle
so moist and soft!
Ginny Garner Mastandrea
So delicious!! My mom said oh they’ll be grainy. Oh no they weren’t!! They were so delicious and just the right amount of cinnamon!! I could have eaten the batter and skipped the muffin making but I resisted and I just loved them!! I shared with my neighbors because we’re all kind of stuck at home because of icy weather. Thank you so much!
Laura Fuentes
I am so glad you enjoyed these pear muffins, Ginny! Your neighbors must have been so excited to get muffins delivered on a cold day!
Dawn
These pear muffins with cinnamon crumble fantastic! I will definitely make these again.
Rachael
My family loved these!
Erin Stewart
Wow these are so delicious and so easy to make! I doubled the recipe- my adjustments
*I used 3 larger fresh to get 3 cups peeled & chopped pears
* I used 1/2 melted butter & 1/2 melted coconut oil
* flour combo – 1-1/2 cup regular flour, 1 cup while wheat flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/4 ground flax seeds
Thanks so much Laura I’m excited to try more of your recipes now!!
Laura Fuentes
Thank you for making these, Rama! I am glad you enjoyed them.
Nicole Locastro
Can I use fresh pears? If so, should i cook them a bit, to compensate for the canned pears.
Laura Fuentes
you can absolutely use fresh pears. No need to cook them, simply dice them. They will cook while baking. Enjoy!
Monica Davis
Lovely recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Mrs Lyn Chivers
How long will these keep after baking please
Laura Fuentes
These muffins will last up to 2 days in an airtight container at room temperature. Once refrigerated they’ll last up to 1 week.
Jessica
Just made these and they are delicious! Used fresh ripe pears and they worked out so well. Thank you for the recipe.
Laura Fuentes
I am so glad you enjoyed the Jessica!!
Laura Fuentes
I am so glad you enjoyed them Jessica!!
Tricia
I used to freeze baked muffins, but find we prefer to freeze the batter in muffin liners and then bake “as needed.” How do you think these would freeze before baking?
Laura Fuentes
They absolutely will freeze prior to baking very well!
Tricia
Thanks so much!! We made some today for school snacks. Some for the freezer and some for eating. They were yummy!!
Melanie Hawk
Love this recipe, thank you for sharing. My favorite recipe using canned fruit is “Cherry Pie Supreme.” It is the absolute best, and speaking of this, I think I have some muffins and a pie to make this week. 🙂
Laura Fuentes
thank you so much for sharing you loved these muffins Melanie!
Renee
Sounds good for my kids, never cared for pears realy.
Kez
I made these and use fresh grated pears instead of tins
The children ate them without really tasting the pears which meant I got fruit into them (other than apples) without them being aware of it 🙂
The pears just made it moister and fluffier but didn’t really add any ‘pear taste’.
I tried them out at the office and they all disappeared
I will try with pieces of pear next time (I have 2 big pear trees in my garden and need ways to use up the pears)
Jessica
Our favorite use for canned fruit in the summer is the homemade version of Dole Whip, canned pineapple, frozen, and smashed up in the blender until it’s light & fluffy. We love muffins with canned peaches in the cooler months! These pear ones look delicious as well!
Colleen M
I have only used canned fruit to make a pie – but I am really interested in making these muffins as I already have pears in the pantry. Can’t wait to try this.
michelle childers
I use canned pineapple in my zucchini bread
Denise
I’ve never baked with canned fruit. This is one recipe that I will definitely like to try!
Kiley
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Cristina
Love to make your peach bread, Laura, from your cookbook with canned peaches. Comes out even and delicious!
Laura Fuentes
Oh yes! Totally a great recipe and use for canned fruit!
Kellie L Folkerts
Canned pineapple rings in an upside down pineapple cake is my favorite canned fruit recipe!!
Sara Geiser
I love using canned pineapple rings in pineapple upside down cake!
Juliane
Carrot cake with crushed pineapple. Can’t wait to try these muffins, they look delicious!
Marie
Canned fruit in a muffin? Who’d’ve thought!
We just use canned fruit and a nice shelf stable pantry item to augment meals… I don’t think I’ve ever cooked or baked with it. Take that back! I’ve cooked with canned pineapple. I have a sweet and sour meatball recipe that I like to make, though I don’t usually bother with making the meatballs and will instead sub all beef hot dogs 🙂
DARLENE WARD
Peaches for peach cobbler, pineapple for pineapple upside down cake, pumpkin for pumpkin rolls, crushed pineapple for cranberry salad, I could go on and on and on 🙂
Sarah
Great recipe…I like using canned pumpkins in muffins and bread!
Ashley
These are delicious! Just made them this morning for the kids.
Laura
We have several mug cake recipes with canned pumpkin that are yummy. We also have a “Mexican wedding cake” recipe that uses crushed pineapple in heavy syrup as the main sweetener. It’s really yummy, but definitely a once in a while treat!
Cheryl B
I love to make pineapple upside down cake and peach cobbler from canned fruits.
Lori L
Super excited to try this recipe! I haven’t used canned fruit for a recipe in many years as I Garden & have friends & family that share their abundance of fresh friut too! So I will cook down the fruit a little then add to recipe! Thank you for the tip & recipe & I would Adore new Bakeware!!!!!!!
Amanda Edwards
I love using canned pumpkin for lots of recipes! Even just adding some to a basic pancake or baked good (or oatmeal!) makes me so happy!
Chris
I grill pineapple rings with pork chops marinated with the pineapple juice and a little mustard.
Crystal Dunn
I have used canned mandarin oranges in white cake mix and then used the juice from the mandarin oranges to make orange whipping cream to go on top!
Heather Benes
My favorite recipe using canned fruit is pineapple fluff with a candied pretzel topping. I used crushed pineapple, cream cheese, sugar, whipped cream and mix that together to make a fluff or salad. I then mix crushed pretzels with sugar and butter, bake then crumble the cooled pretzels on top. Yum!
Caitlin
I have never used canNed fruit before, and will have to. These look delicious thank you for sharing the recipe
Myra Blake
I love to use canned fruit for several recipes, but my favorite is peach cobbler.
I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe as it looks amazing!
Stacy Fellows
I have never used canned fruit for my baking. I will give it a try!
Amy Dreier
My boys loved the canned pineapple and even prefer it over fresh!
Kristen McCrae
I can’t wait to try this recipe! My kids love muffins! I think I want to try it with apples and peaches too, kind of like pie in a muffin. Libby canned fruits are the best! I don’t think you can go wrong with any of their canned fruit.
Breanna
This looks so delicious! I usually use canned blueberries to make homemade blueberry cobbler!
Juli
I use canned pineapple in salsa!
Tricia
At the moment, our favorite canned fruit “recipe” is yogurt parfaits. We take our home made yogurt and our favorite canned fruits and layer away……topped off with a few mini chocolate chips of course ;o)
Pam
Can’t wait to try this recipe! I use canned peaches and apples to make a cobbler.
Sonia
Pêche Melba …. When fresh peaches are not in season, and I find myself craving this dessert, I make it with caned peaches…
Also, I like to make homemade gelatin (jello) with diced fruit. It is a very light and refreshing dessert for the hot summer days.
Valerie
I like to use a can of crushed pineapple and make watergate salad.
Melissa
I often use canned fruit in baked oatmeal.
Kay Lechner
I used canned fruit to make any kind of fruit crisp. Tried this muffin recipe and loved it! I also love using Libby’s fruit cocktail, along with canned pie filling, to make a wintertime fruit salad when not a lot of fruit is available in stores for a reasonable price! Thank you, Laura, for your wonderful recipes and thank you to Libby’s for this opportunity!
Laura Fuentes
Congratulations! You are our winner for this giveaway! Please check your email from [email protected]
Stacy Sutton
We make the best pumpkin cookies ever with libby’s canned pumpkin. We only use libby’s its quality can’t be beat!
Margaret
Baking!!!
Yasmine
Never used canned fruit but I use fresh apples!
Susan V
Oh, these look delicious! Thanks for the great recipe – I love anything with crumble topping and cinnamon and I’ve never made pear muffins before! Thanks for the video, recipe and giveaway!
Alice McKnight
My favorite way to use canned fruit is to make peach cobbler. But Making in the oven is not enough fun for me, I make it the dutch oven.
Eileen
What temperature should the oven be to bake these?
Also, for the crumble topping, is it 2 TBSP brown sugar?
Thanks, these look delicious!
Laura Fuentes
Thanks for catching that Eileen! I just updated the recipe. The oven should be set to 375F and yes, that would be 2 tablespoons. Thank you!
Eileen
Thanks!
Sarah
We enjoy baking peach cobbler.
Krysta Bauer
We enjoyed these muffins, but my favorite recipe is dump cake. We make it for family events. It uses canned pineapple and canned cherry filling.
Lisa franklin
Mandarin orange cake
Trish Clark
I love to make apple enchiladas! Will definitely be trying your recipe…thanks!
Christina
I use canned fruit cocktail in jello.
Carrie Haines
I love Libby’s canned pumpkin to make pumpkin bread and muffins and my new favorite is canned apples and peaches for quick dessert prep. Yum!
Penny
I have never baked with canned fruit, but i will have to try these muffins.
Tara Kidd
I like to use canned fruit in crisps and cobblers. Yum!
Laura
We actually don’t use canned fruit much, I’m thinking I need to look into using it more!
Melanie
I found a yummy recipe for pear-peach-cherry sauce, a twist on applesauce, using these three canned fruits. My kids love it. I think the softer consistency of canned fruits wins out for this recipe, too.
Railey C
Canned pumpkin goes well in sauces, pancakes, waffles, muffins, pies, bread, smoothies etc!
ELIZABETH
I’VE NEVER MADE ANYTHING MORE THAN A PIE WITH CANNED FRUIT, BUT I’VE PUT CANNED PEARS ON MY GROCERY LIST SO I CAN GIVE THIS A GO!
Leah
I love to make pineapple baked oatmeal used canned crushed pineapple!
Kathy C
I used canned peaches, pears and pineapple to make a summer fruit salad. I also use fresh strawberries and bananas. The canned fruit is just so easy to use, dice it up and throw it in.
AMBER WATSON
Pineapple Whips or Dump Cakes! They are always easy and yummy!
Erica W.
Looks yummy. I use canned crushed pineapple in my carrot muffins.
Erica W.
I use Canned crushed pineapple in my carrot muffins.
Latanya
cherry cobbler
Melissa
I make a cherry crumble with canned cherries. I love the easiness of working with canned fruit sometimes!!
Janna
I usually make fruit crisp. But, I can’t wait to try out these muffins! My family loves muffins for breakfast but I get bored making the same recipes over and over. I am really looking forward to trying these out and adding them to our rotation. Thank you for the great inspiration!!
Suzie
Cherry dump cake but that’s canned pie filling so not sure if that counts. Pineapple upside cake! It was the first baking I ever did by myself as a child and it’s one of my favorite desserts. I also like to make pineapple salsa using canned pineapple. I really like canned mandarin oranges in Chinese chicken salad. Mashed up canned apricots and banana are a great replacement for eggs in chocolate chip cookies.
Kristy
Pineapple blended with yogurt!
J S
Pumpkin (turned into pies or smoothies) is my favorite canned fruit to bake with – I’d love to win the contest. 🙂
D Denman
I am a big fan of canned fruit in desserts. Pineapple upside down cake is one and Mandarin Orange Cake is another. Anxious to make the Pear Muffins
Sharon E
I don’t normally use canned fruit, but I’d love to try the GF version of these!
Amy
I make a killer upside down cake with (home) canned peaches. Nothing is yummier!! I have several jars of home canned pears and I can’t wait to try out these muffins!!
Jess
Peach tart with a crumble topping is my favorite fruit dish to make from canned goods, yum!
Carole Foshee
I make blueberry cobbler cobbler with fresh berries and flour, milk and sugar. It is so good.
Val
Pineapple lush!
Erica
I use canned cherries for mini cheesecakes.
Erica
I love using canned cherries for mini cheesecakes.
Doris
Love the recipe will try it soon ..I use the pineapple to make mini upside down cake for my kids in the holidays
Kristina
My favorite is “ambrosia” – a kind of canned fruit salad with coconut, yogurt/sour cream, and sometimes marshmallows. I enjoy changing up the kinds of fruit I use, and it is a huge hit with the kids while still being a treat I can feel good about.
Kalina Brown
Cherry cheese danish
Olivia
Love this recipe!!
Teena
Peach cobbler is the only recipe I make with canned fruit but I will definitely try this! I love muffins!
Tiffany
I love anything semi homemade. So one of my favorite recipes is an easy peach cobbler all done in one baking dish: canned peaches, butter, and self rising flour, sugar and milk!
Amanda
I haven’t used canned fruit before but I have used frozen berries to make a delicious coffee cake berry crumble. Yummy!
Caroline
I make apple crumble for my family – we love the crumble. I’ll try these with pear next time!
Louisa
These look delicious! I love the crumble topping.