Pawpaw Nut Muffins

Pawpaws are ripening throughout their northern range right now. The large native fruits can be found growing in river bottoms and creek drainages.

Pawpaws are ripe when they give to a gentle squeeze and pull easily from the stem.

When I process a big batch of pawpaws, I freeze the extra pulp in 1.5 cup amounts in zip style freezer bags.

When you process your pawpaws, freeze the extra pulp for additional recipes.

You can read about how I process pawpaws in this pawpaw butter recipe. I can use this frozen pulp all year for tasty baked goods like these pawpaw nut muffins. Just thaw and mix, it’s that simple.

This recipe is my daughter’s and makes a tender, buttery muffin and the topping adds a nice crunchy texture to the muffins after they are baked.

These pawpaw muffins are an easy to make and tasty breakfast treat.

Start by mixing the topping ingredients. Set aside.

Measure your ingredients before mixing.

In a large bowl, mix the pawpaw pulp, eggs, butter, bourbon, and buttermilk.

Mix the wet ingredients together, then blend into the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, blend the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Blend in the chopped walnuts.

Blend the chopped walnuts into the batter.

Portion the batter out into lightly greased muffin pans. For my muffin pan, that’s about ½ cup per muffin. Sprinkle a bit of the topping mixture onto each muffin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm and topped with a pat of butter.

This muffin recipe freezes well if you have leftovers.