Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly spray or grease a muffin tin with oil. Set aside.In a large bowl, combine oats and milk. Let sit 15 minutes.

Step 2

In a second mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cardamom.

Step 3

Stir the oil, egg, brown sugar and vanilla into the soaked oat mixture. Add dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold pears into the batter.

Step 4

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tin. (If using the crunchy topping: Stir the butter and sugar until the brown sugar dissolves. Top the muffin batter evenly with the mixture as shown in the photo.)

Step 5

Bake 12 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let the muffins cool in the pan 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. Enjoy these muffins warm or freeze for later.