Baked Pears with Banana & Almond Butter Ice Cream
This dessert is satisfying, warming, and delicious - everything you want in a winter dessert. This is my kind of food, because it tastes naughty but is actually VERY healthy. And who doesn't want guilt-free indulgences right? Especially when the weather is getting chilly!
The main feature of this dessert is the pear. I am a bit obsessed with pears at the moment. They are really cheap at my local farmers market and I love how versatile they are. You can use them in smoothies, grate them into bircher muesli, add thin slices to a lunchtime salad, or even as a marinade for meat (think Korean food....yummmm). They're delicious added to freshly squeezed green juices too (I love kale, cucumber, lemon, and pear).
And of course, as a dietitian, I love pears for their high fibre content - a whopping 7g of fibre in one pear! We all need at least 30 grams of fibre per day, so you can see that eating a pear a day pushes things along nicely (literally)!
Ingredients for pears (makes a large batch)
5 ripe fresh pears cinnamon 1 cup of warm water ~ 10 drops Organic liquid stevia drops (~ 3 teaspoons of powdered stevia) 1 tablespoon honey Natural vanilla extract
Method
Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Wash pears, cut into quarters, and remove core. Set aside. In a bowl, combine warm water with stevia, honey, and vanilla extract. Add pears and mix to coat pears with syrup. Place the mixture onto a roasting tray and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon (about 2 teaspoons all together). Bake for 20 minutes and then turn pears so the skin faces out (this is to get that crispiness). Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until skins are crispy and golden. Serve warm (or cold) with ice cream.
Ingredients for ice cream (for one serve)
1 frozen banana 1 teaspoon of almond butter 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 teaspoon maple syrup for drizzling
Method
Place frozen banana and vanilla extract in a high-power blender and blend until you reach a creamy consistency. Add almond butter and blend until well incorporated. Use an ice cream scoop to serve, and drizzle with a little maple syrup.
What is your favourite pear recipe?
Link of the day:
Why not make this Maple Brown Rice Pudding with pear?
