Baked Nectarines with Hazelnuts & Yogurt

Baked nectarines with hazelnuts, a sweet and delicious dessert topped here with creamy Greek yogurt. The taste of summer in a bowl.

Make with only 5 ingredients and ready in less than 30 minutes, our baked nectarines with hazelnuts is a quick dessert, ideal for the summer months when we'd all rather be outdoors enjoying the sunshine.

Nectarines are a delicious fruit and baking them really brings out their flavour. We've paired ours with maple syrup and finished the dish off with some sour and creamy Greek yogurt to balance out the sweetness.

This healthy baked nectarine dessert is a great way to make the most of these beautiful stone fruits while they are in season. Don't have nectarines, no problem, swap them out for baked peaches instead.

Worth mentioning that not only is this a great dessert, but you can also enjoy these healthy baked nectarines for breakfast. Replace the toasted hazelnuts with some of your favourite granola instead.

Why bake fruit?

Baking not only softens the fruit but really intensifies the flavour. The fruit juices come out of the fruit and in this recipe blends with the maple syrup to give you a really fruity sauce to pour over the finished dish.

Keep fruit uniform in size as we have done, that way it will all bake at the same time. You don't want to over cook some pieces and have the fruit go soggy.

What fruits can you bake?

Here are some ideas of fruits that taste great when baked:

• Apples
• Pineapple
• Pears
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Apricots
• Plums
• Cherries
• Bananas
• Figs

How to bake nectarines

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160CFan.
• Place the hazelnuts in a small ovenproof dish.

• Prepare the nectarines by cutting them in half and removing the stone.
• Place cut side up in a roasting dish.

• Zest and juice the lemon.

• In a small bowl mix the lemon zest and juice with the maple syrup. Mix to combine and pour over the nectarines.
• Place the hazelnuts and nectarines into the preheated oven.

• Roast the nuts for 8-10 minutes and continue roasting the nectarines for a further 10 minutes.
• While the nectarines finished roasting place the nuts in a clean tea towel and rub together so that the skins fall off. Set aside until ready to assemble the dessert.

Recipe substitutions and variations

• Nectarines can be substituted with other stone fruits like peaches or apricots.
• Hazelnuts are toasted and added to this simple dessert. However, you could also add toasted almonds or pistachio nuts if you prefer. Or sprinkle over some of your favourite granola for added crunch.
• Maple syrup forms the base for a sweet and fruit sauce which is poured over the fruits after baking. You could also use honey, it's a great tasting substitute. Alternatively sprinkle over some soft brown sugar instead.
• Greek yogurt add a cool creaminess to the finished dessert, the sourness of the yogurt working well with the sweet baked nectarines. You can replace the yogurt with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of double cream if you prefer.
• Spices can be added to the fruit while you are baking, sprinkle over some ground cinnamon before baking the fruit.
• Vanilla works beautifully with nectarines and can be added to the maple syrup mix before baking.

Can I make baked nectarine dessert ahead of time?

This baked nectarine dish can be enjoyed either hot or cold. So if you want to prepare ahead of time, simply cook the elements as per the recipe. Allow to cool completely before placing each element into a separate container with a lid.

Place the nectarines and their cooking syrup in the fridge where they will keep for 4-5 days. Leave the toasted hazelnuts in a container on the kitchen counter.

When ready to serve simply assemble the dessert into a bowl and enjoy. If you want to heat the nectarines up, pop them back into a warm oven at 180C/160CFan for 10 minutes to warm through before plating and serving.

Useful hints and tips

1. Look for ripe nectarines as they will taste sweeter, you don't want to start with under-ripe fruit.
2. Planning a picnic bake the nectarines toast the hazelnuts the day before and pop them into the fridge. Then pack into your cool bag along with some Greek yogurt. The perfect sweet treat on a summers day.
3. Serving to anyone following a dairy free or vegan diet then remove the Greek yogurt and replace with a suitable dairy free alternative.
4. Our egg free dessert is the perfect dessert for anyone with an egg allergy.
5. This gluten free dessert is ideal for Coelics or anyone following a gluten free diet.

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Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try some of our other fruit desserts:

• Classic Apple & Blackberry Crumble
• Rhubarb & Vanilla Sorbet
• Blood Orange Sorbet
• Healthy Stewed Rhubarb
• Individual Trifles with Figs & Vanilla
• Easy Rhubarb Crumble
• Rhubarb Frangipane Tart
• Rhubarb & Ginger Clafoutis
• Blackberry Parfait

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