This healthy baked pears recipe is sweet, simple, and delicious. Healthy baked pears make a great holiday brunch recipe or simple Thanksgiving dessert!
This healthy baked pears recipe was a hit! Total pear-fection. 😉 (I can't help myself when it comes to food puns!) Pears are stuffed with raw pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries for a nut-free filling that's sweet and crunchy. Give everything a drizzle of maple syrup and sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger, then bake until pears are soft!
They make a wonderful light and healthy dessert for a holiday meal (or any time!). They're also perfect for brunch! This healthy baked pears recipe is perfect on its own, or you can top it for even more options! The pears are sweet, so my husband and I found they best paired with plain greek yogurt spiked with vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger. You can also freshly whip some heavy cream or coconut cream with a splash of cinnamon and vanilla for a not-too-sweet whipped cream for a dessert. Of course, there's always a vanilla bean ice cream, too. I can't imagine a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting over warm baked pears would be too terrible. 😉
Healthy Baked Pears Recipe Tips
- Seems obvious, but make sure you use fresh pears (not underripe). I used bartlett pears but you can use whichever variety you prefer.
- I enjoyed filling my healthy baked pears with pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries, but you can totally use what you have on hand or prefer. Think slivered almonds, walnuts, pecans, dried cherries, dried apricots, etc.
- Please use REAL maple syrup - not the fake maple-flavored breakfast syrup that has 100 ingredients. Pure maple syrup really shines! If you don't have any, you can also get away with using honey, too!
- The healthy baked pears recipe is very forgiving and very flexible. It can easily be divided in half to just use one pear or multiplied to use a dozen pears!
Want More Healthy Dessert Recipes?
Try these Nutrition to Fit healthy dessert recipes for nourishing sweet treats!
- Raspberry Caramel Chocolate Cups
- Dairy-Free Double Chocolate Fudge Cups
- Almond Oat Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Chocolate Balloon Bowls + 4 Healthy Fillings
- Chocolate Raspberry Avocado Filling
- Chocolate Avocado Truffles
Take a pic of your dessert creations and be sure to tag me (@nutritiontofit, #nutritiontofit) when you make any NTF recipes! Be well!
Healthy Baked Pears
Ingredients
- 2 pears
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds (raw)
- 2 tablespoon dried sweetened cranberries
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- optional toppings (i.e. greek yogurt, yogurt, whipped cream, coconut cream, ice cream, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice each pear in half and use a tablespoon to scoop out the seeds. Place pears on a baking dish (you may need to slice a very small sliver off the back of the pear so it lays flat).
- Combine pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. Fill each pear cavity with this dried fruit and seed mixture.
- Drizzle pears with ½ teaspoon maple syrup each. Combine cinnamon and ginger and sprinkle evenly over pears.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until pears are soft and tender.
- Allow to cool slightly and serve with any desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Meme says
Made this for breakfast this morning and they were so warm and delicious! Perfect fall breakfast!
Lindsey Janeiro, RDN, CLT says
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you!
Tawnie Kroll says
My new favorite dessert recipe! Thank you!
Liz Shaw says
Wow these look light and irresistible. Have you ever tried marinating the pear before cooking?
Emily Kyle says
So simple and so yummy! My son will love these!
Lorie says
Simple comfort food at its very finest!
Natalie says
What a festive and simple treat. Def going to make this soon!