Guest Post: Kicking Back The Pebbles Blog
Happy weekend friends! I’m excited to have my dear friend Athina from Kicking Back The Pebbles as our guest blogger today. I hope you enjoy her delicious new recipe – Pear Almond Olive Oil Muffins. Have a beautiful weekend! ❤️❤️
Hello Kouzounas Kitchen’s fans and ardent foodies! I am beyond delighted to be here and well, a tad intimidated because oh dear, do I have some standards to live up to! So, in true timid mode, let me go on and blabber a whole lot about me, myself & I… I’ve been a stalwart bookworm ever since I can remember myself. I studied English & American Literature and became an EFL/ESOL Teacher. I successfully(!) combined teaching and working as an executive secretary, in a big advertising company and a law firm, for several years. I’m also a freelance feature writer & line (copy/content) editor. I started my blog, Kicking Back the Pebbles, in April 2012 as a creative outlet for me to express my love for all things food, home-making & traveling. I feature real food, made from scratch, with everyday ingredients you can find at the grocery store. I share my decluttering & organizing tips, affordable shopping finds, cleaning hacks. Passionate about nature & culture, I’m happy to take you on a virtual tour of all the places I visit. In this post, for my boon companion’s blog, I wanted to give you an easy & quick baking recipe that features seasonal Fall aromas and flavors, but doesn’t utilize the usual pumpkins or apples, even though—don’t get me wrong—I love ALL things pumpkin, and apple. I had a ta-dah moment while shopping at my greengrocer’s the other day, when I came across some luscious nashi pears: the delightful species of pear tree native to East Asia, has been successfully cultivated in Cyprus & Greece (in Naoussa-Imathia and Pella) for the past few years. We call them nashia/νάσια or apple-pears/αχλαδόμηλα. (And yes, for those of you who can tell, “αχλαδόμηλα” does really translate into “pear-apples” so I bet I had you scratching your head there, for a second!) Of course, you don’t need to use that exact variety, any kind will do. Olive/vegetable oil makes this recipe cholesterol free and real Greek yogurt offers a lighter texture. Do give them a try and let me know how they came out. And make sure you scroll all the way to the end, where I answer a few fun questions by Krystina, in the lamest way possible—just so that you get a better idea of who you’re dealing with!
Pear-Almond Olive Oil Muffins
Servings: 10-12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup + 1 tsp (255 gr) plain white flour
- ½ cup (125 gr) raw sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1 egg
- 1 carton (200 gr) of plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (125 ml) almond milk
- ½ tsp almond extract
- ¼ cup (60 ml) mild, extra virgin olive oil or other mild vegetable oil
- 1 cup (250 gr or 2 medium-sized) diced pears
- 2 tbsp almond flakes
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C/392 °F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, raw sugar, baking powder, and soda, and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, Greek yoghurt, milk, almond extract, and olive oil.
- Make a small well in the center of the flour-mixture and pour in the egg-mixture. Whisk mildly to combine. Do not beat or overmix the batter.
- Cut the pears into quarters and remove the stem, core and skin. Dice the pear flesh and measure out about 1 cup.
- Add the diced pear to the batter and stir some more until just combined. The batter should still be kind of lumpy.
- Brush a 12-cup muffin tin with olive oil or use muffin/cupcake liners.
- Divide batter equally between the tin-cups. Sprinkle with almond flakes.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until well risen and golden brown.
- Take out of the oven and let cool slightly, on a wire rack, before removing.
Q & A
- If you were stranded on a Greek island, what island would you wish you were stranded on and why? What 3 things would you bring with you? (Ex: book, sunglasses, computer.)
Pffft, I’m going to cheat: any island with a fully equipped, geothermally heated, satellite internet-connected light-house on it! No need to bring anything along… no—wait, my cat!
- Who was your inspiration to start Kicking Back the Pebbles blog?
I was (and still am) an avid reader of home-improvement and DIY blogs. I used to read Young House Love non-stop back in 2012—they are, up to date, among my favorite bloggers—and I can say that I was absolutely inspired by them.
- If you can be one ice cream flavor, what would you be?
Plain old vanilla! (But, let me humblebrag, what would the world be without it?)
- What is your favorite # 1 post you have shared on KBTP?
I am partial to my travel blogs. I must say, from my series on Istanbul, Turkey I am especially fond of my post on the Topkapi Palace where I get to talk to you about the Imperial Kitchens complex!
So much interesting info! You can find Kicking Back The Pebbles at:
Athina’s Writing Portfolio: clippings.me
Thanks for enjoying my guest blogger today! Please make sure to check out Kicking Back The Pebbles blog. ☑️☑️
These muffins look absolutely divine!! ♥
Thank you for the comments Didi! How have you been?
Thank you so much Didi!
🙂 Thank you Didi! Athina did a fabulous job on this recipe.
Oh yummy!! Thank you for this great post my friend. 🙂
Hello Girls-such a great recipe Athina! x
Hi Cheryl!! Thank you my dear for the nice comments.
Most welcome Koukla! x
Have a beautiful day!! 🙂
You as well Koukla Mou!
Thank you!!
xx
Happy evening!
Yo too Koukla Mou! x
Thank you!!
Hiii Cheryl! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Happy Thursday friends! 🙂
These look lovely!
Thank you so much Dianna! Athina did great on this recipe.
Thank you Diana, I hope you give them a try!
❤️❤️