Pear Chocolate Muffins
Weekends are for baking and meal planning.
I’ve said many times, one of the pillars of a healthy diet is planning. We all know we need to eat more vegetables, whole-grains, healthy fats and less processed food, but were many people fail is in planning.
If you organize yourself and know what you will eat every day, have enough healthy snacks around, or at least have nutritious ingredients ready to go, there is less chance that you succumb to an unhealthy treat or that you run desperate to grab fast food.
I love to book few hours on the weekend to make snacks for the week. Cookies, bars or muffins are the best to prepare in advance and the best to satisfy those sweet cravings I use to have.
Today’s PEAR CHOCOLATE MUFFINS are super moist and delicious. Made with oat flour and ground almonds, they are packed with good stuff. Don’t expect them to be super sweet, they are more kind of plain in that sense, but the sweetness of the apple compote, the tine bit of honey and the spices make them just perfect. They are great nutritious choices as snacks to go, treats for the office or a complement for a good cup of tea at home.
The pear and chocolate combination is a classic, though the truth is that chocolate pairs with everything :p. Dark chocolate contains magnesium, iron and antioxidants. It also boost the hormones responsible for feeling well and relax. Pears are delicious and in season right now, they are low in GI and high in fiber what speeds up the movement in the intestinal tract.
Of course, you could swap pear and chocolate for any other combination you wish, like apple and nuts, banana and chocolate or raspberries and lemon.
What are your favourite treats to make over the weekend? I would love to see your little muffins or any other ideas, so please, don’t forget to tag #healthyforkful on Instragram or leave a comment below.
- 65 g ground almonds
- 65 g oat flour
- 50 g buckwheat flour
- 4 teaspoons corn starch or potato starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- a pinch baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- a pinch ground ginger
- 100 ml Greek plain yogurt
- 50 ml olive oil
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 2 happy eggs
- 60 ml apple sauce* homemade and sugar free if possible
- 1 pear peeled and cored
- 1 handful cacao nibs
- cacao nibs
- rolled oats
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Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers.
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In a big bowl mix all dry ingredients, almonds, flours, starch, baking powder and soda and spices.
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In a jug, beat yogurt, oil, honey, eggs and apple sauce. Add to the bowl with dry ingredients and mix until combined.
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Finely dice the pear. Add it to the batter and mix with the cacao nibs.
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Divide batter between the muffin papers. Top with cacao nibs and some rolled oats. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
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Let the cool and enjoy!
You can make the apple sauce by just cooking the peeled and chopped apple with a bit of water until soft. Then blend until smooth.