In Edward Bunyan’s The Anatomy of Dessert, he describes the pear in the following way: “It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption”. Given their recent coming-in to season, pears are a perfect choice for our next recipe. And coincidentally, these magnificently moreish pear, Nutella and Hazelnut muffins will greedily lead to silence in the brief moment of consumption, so Bunyan’s comment still holds true.

The recipe we feature below is by Martha Collison, the baker made famous from the 2014 series of the Great British Bake Off. She pairs pears (pun intended) with chocolate, which is an inviting combination in any form. Topped with roasted hazelnuts, these pear and Nutella muffins are a scrumptious autumnal treat, which you may find yourself making another batch of quicker than you think.

The recipe makes 12 standard sized muffins.

Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 175g self-raising flour
• ½ tbsp baking powder
• 25g cocoa powder
• 50g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 75ml vegetable oil
• 50ml milk
• 100g Nutella
• 2 Conference pears
• 100g dark chocolate chunks
• 50g hazelnuts, lightly roasted and chopped

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC and line a 12-case muffin tin with paper muffin cases.
2. Quarter, core and finely dice the Conference pears – ideally you want the fruit to be quite hard (slightly under-ripe) as they will soften in the oven.
3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl, and stir in the sugar.
4. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla, oil and milk with a whisk. Once combined, stir in the Nutella. 
5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry with a spatula. Stir through the chocolate chunks and cubed pear pieces. 
6. Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases, then sprinkle the roasted, chopped hazelnuts over the top. 
7. Bake for 20 minutes, and try to allow the muffins to cool for a few moments before enjoying.