Today we’re talking moist, not too sweet, double chocolate maple pear muffins that leave warm smidgens of chocolate all over your fingers– whole grain muffins, sweetened with chunks of pear and pure maple syrup, and lavished with dark chocolate morsels!
The finger-licking chocolate-y fruitiness going on in these muffins is a welcome treat any time of day. You could definitely serve them for dessert, maybe with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Tilt your head in a muffin-y nod to the classic French dessert, Poire Belle Hélène–perfectly poached pears with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.
You should see Robbie gobble these down, a guy who professes to not like chocolate. I had to hide them from ourselves in the freezer, which works for me, but after dinner he just reaches in, opens the container, and eats one frozen!
Are they muffins or cupcakes?
Where do you draw the line between a muffin and a cupcake? I mean, we’ve all had a muffin somewhere so loaded with sugar they truly qualify as a cupcake, without the frosting.
Here’s my logic. If they have frosting, they’re cupcakes; if not frosted or glazed, they’re muffins. These chocolate and pear muffins are made with whole wheat flour, unsweetened yogurt, and coconut oil. In each muffin there’s a tablespoon of maple syrup and a heaping tablespoon of chopped ripe pear for natural sweetness. And nary a creamy gild-the-lily swirl of frosting on top, so these are healthy chocolate muffin treats!
If you love chocolate muffins, try these honey-sweetened chocolate zucchini “muffins”. Even without frosting, they’re sweet enough to serve as individual birthday cakes. (I know of someone who served them unfrosted for her little girl’s birthday!)
Chocolate Maple Pear Muffins recipe details:
- A muffin trick, meant to catch the rising batter at its peak with nice muffin tops, is to preheat the oven to 25 degrees warmer than the temp you bake them at. When you slide in the muffin tins into the oven, dial the temp back down for baking.
- About cocoa powder: Natural or Dutch process? In this recipe either one works. The alkaline baking soda in this recipe is there to balance the acidity of the yogurt. If you’re slow to get these babies in the oven, you can actually witness the reaction of the two. Baking powder, already a combo of acid and alkali, evens things out. As in, with “double acting” baking powder, some of the rise happens as soon as the batter is mixed, the second rise with the oven’s heat.
- You might also like these cinnamon poached pears with chocolate sauce. The pears are poached in a pressure cooker.
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Double Chocolate Maple Pear Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- Rounded 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 5 tablespoons hot water
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup less 2 tablespoons plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup diced fresh pear about ½-inch pieces, plus 12 thin slices for the tops, optional
- ½ cup chocolate chips plus ¼ cup for the tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 12 muffin cups generously with cooking spray. To make sure the muffin tops release with ease, coat the top of the pan as well as the inside of the cups.
- Sift or whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and hot water into a smooth slurry. Add the oil or butter, maple syrup, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla, whisking until well blended.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring gently with a spatula. When there is just one streak of flour left, gently mix in the chopped pears and the first ½ cup of chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter into the prepared muffin cups using a heaping #16 cookie scoop or 1/3 cup measure. On top, arrange a pear slice and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips.
- As you place the muffin tins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. (See note) Bake 14 to 16 minutes, until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched with a finger and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes, before removing from the muffin cups.
I can’t find plain, whole milk, Greek yogurt. Only 2% or nonfat. Can I simply strain some plain, whole milk, regular yogurt since my understanding is that’s how Greek yogurt is made? · 16 October, 2017
Yes you can sub in whole milk plain yogurt. The Greek is thicker and letting the regular yogurt drain in a strainer for 10 minutes so it thickens a little. · 17 October, 2017
Done. The Mountain High yogurt now speaks Greek. · 17 October, 2017