Quick Skillet Spiced Pears are reminiscent of a warm, cozy fall dessert without the sugar. Use them to top pancakes, yogurt, or ice cream - or enjoy them on their own for a fruity snack that feels fancy!
I take my food pretty seriously. I want it to be as delicious as possible. For that reason, I like to build my bites of food, and I save the best one for last. I carefully nibble around what I deem the perfect part of my pizza. The final bite of my salad has the perfect dressing-to-stuff ratio and is mostly toppings, with minimal lettuce. I eat those killer sweet potato fries last. And dessert is most important. The last bite of my ice cream has all the best mix-ins, the last bit of my cookie has the most chocolate chips, and when I’m finishing a sundae, that last bite has the exact right amount of every component.
Do I always labor over the perfect bite? No. I have a life. A lot of my meals are thrown together and eaten in about 6 minutes while I’m working. But when I have the chance to linger over a meal? You can bet I’m going to be enjoying all those bites as much as possible.
These pears are my way of building the perfect bite of pie.
That is, I’m not a fan of traditional pie crust, so I just go for filling. I’m the first to admit that I might have just never had fantastic pie crust. However, to me they all taste kind of like flour and nothing else.
Anyway, I love (not-too-sweet) pie filling. Thick peanut butter cream is basically my dream. Rich chocolate ganache is perfect. Warm, comforting, perfectly-spiced apples and pumpkin makes me so happy. Frankly, I’ve never had pear pie… but this is what the filling would taste like.
If you also favor the pie filling - or you’re just looking for a fun way to eat fruit - these spiced pears are absolutely for you. In about 10 minutes, you can have cozy, sweet, juicy pie-like goodness to eat on its own or over ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, waffles, or anything else your heart desires. Not a fan of pears? Try it with apples!
- 1 large Bosc pear
- 1/4 c. water
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- 1/2 t. vanilla extract
- 1/8 t. nutmeg
- Chop pear into 1/2-inch pieces.
- Place a small skillet over medium heat and add pears, water, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg. Stir.
- Allow mixture to come to a simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When liquid has mostly evaporated, serve as desired.
- This is easily multiplied. I often only make a small batch since I'm just feeding myself, but feel free to make more in a larger skillet. These store well in the fridge for a couple of days.
- Serve over pancakes (pictured), waffles, yogurt, ice cream, or anything else that sounds good. Or, eat them straight out of the skillet. Been there, done that.
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It’s week 4 of the Autumn Produce Challenge with Kayla and Priya. Celebrate with us by linking up your best pear recipes below! And don’t forget to join us next week with your favorite winter squash recipes!
Your turn:
Do you build your bites?
What are your thoughts on pie?
I need these with just a little whipped cream or yogurt.or over top of oats. Perfection
Ooooh whipped cream would also be excellent 😀
I love warm fruit on oats or pancakes. Cinnamon is one of my favorite spices too! YUM!
I pour cinnamon on everything. LOVE it.
I love pan stewed fruit! Cinnamon apples or pears would be such a yummy addition to pancakes or waffles or oatmeal or by themselves!
I wholeheartedly agree 🙂
We did something similar this weekend with apples to put on top of the Simple Mills waffles! I don’t know why I never buy pears, but they’d be a really yummy way to mix it up. 🙂
I loveee pie. Store bought crusts are meh, but Eric’s mom has the best GF pie crust recipe ever. It is so flaky and buttery!
I love apples and like that they last longer, but I enjoy switching it up now and then 🙂
Oooh that sounds yummy.
Bosc pears are my favorite of all pears <3 unripe <3 That is my life!
They’re one of the only fruits I can handle underripe, but I hate hate hate mushy pears.
YESSS! I am a bite-builder to and I am so glad you gave me a name for it, haha!
Jesse and I have totally different eating styles. When eating dinner, he has to eat all of his vegetables first and meat last whereas I either have to have a bit of everything on every forkful OR I leave all the veggies to last because they’re my favourite ;P
And if I have peanut butter on anything, peanut butter HAS to be on that last bite.
YES. Always save the best for last!
Looks so yummy, Ellen! I like making something similar with apples in the fall but haven’t even thought to try pears. Looks and sounds amazing!
Haha I linked to your apple recipe because I remembered that! Thank you ?
yess someone else understands my love of pie filling! i think that’s why i like crumbles/crisps more too. this sounds like the perfect filling, topping, or snack! 🙂
Oooh and crumbles are even better because you get the crunch from the topping!
Cayanne Marcus (@healthyezsweet) says
Fall food is the best food! I can just imagine how delicious these are going to make my kitchen smell 🙂
The spicy scent is the best! I hope you enjoy, Cayanne!