Make An Easy Pear Dessert
Try these easy pear dessert recipes and be on the lookout for some locally grown pears this fall. This pear pancake and pear bread pudding would be delicious to make! You 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 among the most common fruits in many of our diets. This could be because they are a little thin-skinned and can become bruised more quickly 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 Eat Pears in Your Diet
- Slice pears and make a cheese plate. Blue cheese, parmesan, or white cheddar pair well with pears.
- 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 pear and winter squash soup, fish, meat, or a meat alternative topped with pear salsa?
- The sky is the limit for dessert recipes with pears, including baking or poaching. They can also be made into crisps, pies, tarts, or cheesecake.
Here are two easy pear recipe dessert ideas that I have created for the fall pear season! I hope that you enjoy them!
Two Dessert Pear Recipes From My Kitchen
Oven Pear Pancakes
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 pear pancake recipe!
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 the oven to 400º F. Lightly coat a 9-inch cast iron skillet with oil. Core and cut the 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 the 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 with pears 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.) Heat the milk, sugar, cinnamon, Earth Balance, and salt in a saucepan 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.
Pears And Their Affect On IBS
For some people with IBS, pears may be a trigger food. I have found that eating a whole pear can cause some GI symptoms, but I can eat half of one. They also work best for me if they are cooked. If you have IBS, it can be beneficial working with a registered dietitian who has experience working with the low fodmap diet to help you find your trigger foods and how to incorporate them into your meal plan.
Make Some Simple Pear Dessert Recipes
I hope these dessert pear recipes give you some different and delicious ways to incorporate pears into your daily 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 consists of many plant-based recipes. There are lots of additional recipes in the Vine Ripe Nutrition Shop!
