The Nourishing Sweets and Treats Carnival

My contribution to this carnival is not my own creation, but I don't remember the original recipe so I will just improvise. My husband's step-mother made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was so delicious! This has become one of my favorite desserts, and I have made it with sucanat or rapadura sugar with great results. This sweets and treats carnival is put on by Kimi Harris and is all about using natural, wholesome sweeteners. She has a great post on these HERE. Now, for the recipe:

Baked Citrus Spiced Pears

6 pears (Bosc pears work well), washed and cored
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sucanat or rapadura sugar
Grated peels of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 vanilla bean (3 in long) or 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Cloves or cinnamon stick

Recipe:

1. In a small bowl, combine sugar and spices.
2. Smear pears all over with softened butter, then roll in sugar and spice mixture.
3. Place stem side up in a large roasting pan.
4. Melt any remaining butter and stir in orange and lemon juice and peels.
5. Slit vanilla bean lengthwise and scoop seeds into butter mixture.
6. Pour the mixture over the pears in the roasting pan. Add add'l strips of peels and/or cinnamon stick or cloves if desired.
7. Cover and bake at 350 deg for about 40 min or until pears are tender and lightly browned.
8. Cut each pear in half and let sit in the syrup on the bottom of the pan to cool.
9. Serve warm with vanilla whipped cream (or ice cream)!

Alternatively, you may cut the pears in half before baking and lay them flat in the pan.

Serving suggestion: place 1-2 pear halves in a bowl, top with whipped cream or ice cream
(if desired), then spoon a few tablespoons of sauce over it all. Yummy!

Thanks, Kimi, for hosting this great carnival! It was fun to participate! For more healthy sweets and treats recipes, check out the carnival over at The Nourishing Gourmet.