Chocolate and Pear Muffins

You never know what will spark an idea, in this case it was a tin of pears tucked in the corner of the pantry.  I'd bought them to make Nigella's Pear and Chocolate Pudding but I never got 'round to doing it.  

I'd eaten half of the canned pears when I had that 'light bulb' moment, why not try making some chocolate and pear muffins?   So this is what I did:

Heat the oven to 200C/400F.   Place 10 paper muffin liners into a muffin tin and set to one side.  


Sift the following ingredients into a large mixing bowl:

250 grams flour
175 grams caster sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder

Stir the dry ingredients together until they are well combined. 

In another bowl or large mixing jug, beat together the following 'wet' ingredients:

1 large egg
100 ml vegetable oil 
250 ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients, stirring until they are JUST about combined. 

Cut 3 canned pear halves into small cubes and gently fold them into the muffin batter. 

Divide the batter equally among the 10 muffin liners and bake for about 20 minutes.  Check the muffins after 15 minutes to make sure you don't over bake them. 

Write 'canned pears' on your shopping list so you can try Nigella's Pear and Chocolate Pudding recipe as you munch on a warm muffin and drink a cup of tea.