Dark Chocolate-Ginger Pear Muffins

This recipe is adapted from one by Nigella Lawson in her book, Nigella Express. The original is unbeatable, and amazing with (as she recommends), "some sharp, hard cheese, a Cheddar maybe ..."

I was desperately in the mood for some chocolate, however, and thought I would try her original recipe and add coco powder. As it turns out, they were delicious! I also used a can of pears slices that I then cut right into the batter. Normally when I make this (original) recipe, I just cut an un-peeled pear into it. Use whatever you have around.

I also used plain Greek yogurt rather than the sour cream the original recipe calls for. I'm not sure it will matter much either way. Again, it just happens to be what I had around.

Finally, this recipe could really stand up to having some chopped walnuts and/or dark chocolate chips added.

Dark Chocolate-Ginger Pear Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbl packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
3 Tbl good quality, dark cocoa powder
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbl honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped pears (around 1/4 inch dice)

Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

Put all of the ingredients but the pears into a mixing bowl (you can do this by hand -- a mixer is really not necessary) and fold everything together with a wooden spoon. Don't overmix! The secret to light and fluffy muffins is to just barely get the ingredients incorporated.

This mixture will be dry, but fold in the pears and they will offer more moisture. This batter is not intended to be very wet. This is another trick to having light, fluffy muffins. We are not making a cake batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and then bake for 20-25 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure they are cooked through -- stick the toothpick into the center of a larger muffin. If the toothpick comes out clean, then they are done; if it does not come out clean, cook another couple of minutes and try again.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then move to a cooling rack. Eat them warm and reserve the rest for a light dessert.