Does the word Prune strike fear into your heart? Who wants to eat a mushy black thing anyway? Well I do... I love prunes but I know there are people out there that shudder at the thought of putting one into their mouths.

Prunes are a excellent source of fibre though and if your not sure about them a well hidden prune in a yummy chocolate muffin is the best way to start eating them. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of prunes!

I just had some pretty pears to take photo's of. I know pears are kind of going out of season now but grab some while you still can to make these scrumptious muffins. The pears give the muffin a lovely moistness.

I got the original idea of these muffins from the latest Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I made a few changes to make it my own. It is a dairy free recipe, which I am always on the look out for since I can't eat dairy. These would make a great afternoon snack for the kids afterschool or on the weekend and they'll never know that you've been sneaky and popped a few prunes in.

Chocolate Pear & Prune Muffins

{Download & Print Recipe}

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 Cups Wholemeal SR Flour

¼ Cup Cocoa Powder

¼ tsp Cinnamon

2 Pears, Grated

100ml Oil

½ Cup Prunes, roughly chopped

¼ Cup Boiling Water

1 tsp Baking Powder

175ml Milk (*To make it dairy free replace with rice/soy milk)

½ Cup Maple Syrup

1 egg, lightly beaten

Chocolate Icing:

2 Cups Icing Sugar, sifted

2 Tbsp Cocoa, Sifted

1 Tbsp Butter (* Replace with nuttelex for dairy free)

4- 6 tbsp Milk (* Replace with rice/soy milk)

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line muffin trays with muffin papers.

In a small bowl place the prunes, boiling water and baking powder. Set aside for 15 minutes to soften.

In a large bowl sift the flour, cocoa, and cinnamon. Add the grated pear, oil, milk, maple syrup and lightly beaten egg. Roughly mix together and add prune mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.

Place mixture evenly into muffin papers and place into pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile to make the icing in a small bowl, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add the butter and four tablespoons of the milk to start off with. Mix thoroughly until butter and sugar have incorporated. Add more milk if the mixture is still not to a good consistency. Ice muffins and garnish with desiccated coconut.