Make a Pear Pancake and Pear Bread Pudding
Look for some locally grown pears this fall, and my pear pancake and pear bread pudding would be perfect! You just can’t beat a pear grown close to home instead of picking ahead of time to travel across the country or the ocean!
Pears are not one of the most common fruits in many of our diets. This could be because they are a little thin-skinned and can become bruised more easily than apples, so they may not travel as well. A pear can be ripened at room temperature. To check if a pear is ripe, you can check to see if its neck is soft.
Pears are low in calories, high in fiber, antioxidants, flavonoids, and a source of vitamin C.
There are many varieties of pears, including Red or Green Anjou, Bosc, Comice, Red or Green Bartlett, Concorde, Seckle, Starkinson, and Forelle. Check out these pear varieties here.
Pears can be used in place of almost any recipe where apples are used.
Here Are Tasty Ways to Get Pears in Your Diet
- Make a cheese plate with some sliced pears. Some cheese that pairs well with it includes blue cheese, parmesan, or white cheddar.
- Pears for breakfast include adding them to nuts in yogurt, serving them in oatmeal, and topping waffles, pancakes, French toast, or coffee cake. You can even make it into a smoothie!
- For lunch recipe ideas: try a pear and almond or cashew sandwich or a brie and pear quesadilla. You can also try my Butternut Squash and Pear Salad and substitute pears for the apples in Fall Apple Salad .
- What to make for supper? How about these easy, healthy dinner recipe ideas, which include a pear and winter squash soup or fish, meat, or a meat alternative topped with pear salsa?
- The sky is the limit for pear dessert recipes, which include baking them by themselves or poaching them. They can also be made into crisps, pies, tarts, or cheesecake.
Here are two tasty recipe ideas that I have created for the fall pear season! I hope that you enjoy it!
Recipe for Pear Pancake and Pear Bread Pudding
Oven Pear Pancake
Deborah Madison, a well-known chef and local food advocate, has a fantastic coffee cake recipe in The Savory Way. In it, she combines pears, almonds, and cardamon! I have incorporated these flavors into this skillet pancake!
Serves eight servings.
- Two pears
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Three eggs
- 1 cup milk
- Two teaspoons of almond extract
- One tablespoon Earth Balance margarine, melted
- Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Heat oven to 400º F. Lightly coat a 9-cast iron with oil. Core and cut pears into 12 slices and arrange them in the skillet. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cardamon, flour, eggs, milk, almond extract, Earth Balance, and a pinch of salt and beat well with a whisk until eggs become slightly fluffy. Pour the mixture over the pears. Place the skillet in the oven and bake until springy to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Serve warm and cut into eight pieces.
Pear Bread Pudding
Bread pudding makes a warm and comforting dessert using leftover bread!
Serves 4
- 2 cups milk
- ½ cup brown sugar
- One tablespoon of melted Earth Balance margarine
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- One teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Four eggs, beaten well
- Five slices of soft whole-wheat bread, each cut into cubes
- Two pears, cored and chopped
- One teaspoon ground cinnamon
Heat the oven to 375º F. Butter a 9-inch square pan. (I used a 9-inch skillet to make mine.) In a saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, cinnamon, Earth Balance, and salt until small bubbles form. Whisk together the eggs in a bowl, then add the warm milk mixture to the eggs in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly.
Add the vanilla to the mixture. Layer the bread in the square pan, top with the pears, pour the milk-egg mixture into the baking pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Bake until golden, about 35 minutes. Serve warm. This is great with a little dollop of whipped cream.
Make a Pear Pancake and Pear Bread Pudding
I hope these recipes for pear pancakes and pear bread pudding give you some different and delicious ways to incorporate pears into your meal plan. Head to your local farmers’ market to get them! As an Asheville registered dietitian nutritionist, I believe that we are what we eat, and this includes eating minimally processed foods and food grown as close to home as possible.
I have included more pear ideas in my book Farm Fresh Nutrition, a health and wellness book about the local food movement that includes a lot of plant-based recipes.
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