This delicious Pear Cobbler brought pleas for repeat performance

This one has netted repeated “Do-again!”s from Hubby. I think he really liked this recipe. He (not-so-subtly) hinted that he’d be just fine with my turning around and immediately making this dish a second time—RIGHT NOW! I think that means it was a winner!

The scrumptious dish was a Pear Cobbler made in a 13-inch-by-9-inch pan, so it lasted us many days (and still Hubby begs for more servings). I’ll have to admit that it was a big adaptation of a very good recipe card I just received from the Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services. The card called it a Fruit Cocktail Cobbler, but I didn’t have any fruit cocktail on hand and had an abundance of canned pears instead. My wheels started spinning: Why wouldn’t pears work just as well?

I also have to admit that I used the canned variety of pears rather than the fresh, but I heartily recommend that you simply sub 2 cups of fresh, chopped pears that you have cooked in a small pan on the stove until the pears have just softened a bit. This will sub nicely for the 15-ounce can of pears I added in. I also sprinkled in about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to spice up the flavor.

This dessert actually can be served warm or cold; hubby and I got into quite a conversation about which version was better. He liked his heated and served with sugar-free, fat-free caramel sauce (We use Smucker’s sundae topping) and sugar-free whipped topping. Plain or with these additions, this was a wonderful, low-calorie, virtually sugar-free dessert adoption that shouldn’t produce Diner’s Remorse.

This Pear Cobbler represents a great way to feel indulgent at holiday time without lots of regrets about eating something not good for you.

Pear Cobbler

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 (15-ounce) can pears (in their own juice) or 2 cups fresh pears chopped and cooked on the

stovetop until just softened

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

cooking spray

1/2 cup brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 13-inch-by-9-inch pan with cooking spray. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, egg, cinnamon, and pears with their liquid in a bowl. Transfer mixture to the pan. Top with 1/2 cup brown sugar (can add a little more if you desire). Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple-pear cobbler with an oatmeal muffin on top—that's the idea of this great dessert

Baked apples and baked pears—doesn’t that sound as though it would be a divine combination in a cobbler? Then top it with a crust that tastes like a warm oatmeal muffin—how absolutely scrumptious!

That was what I thought when I read the recipe for Caramel Apple-Pear Cobbler with Oatmeal Muffin Crust. I couldn’t wait to get it all whipped up and ready to stick into the oven. The results indeed were heavenly—as good as it gets where fall desserts are concerned.

One of the neat things about this cobbler idea is that its topping, the Oatmeal Muffin Crust, can just as easily be used to make regular oatmeal muffins. If you take the batter and spoon it into greased muffin cups in a muffin pan and alter the cooking time just slightly, some flavorful muffins will appear from the oven. But as a top layer for the combined apples and pears, it was just too good to be believed. Dig down past the oatmeal-muffin layer; you’ll find some tender apples and pears that have been merged to make a terrific filling.

The mixture is great with sugar-free ice cream or sugar-free whipped topping. All the thanks go to www.myrecipes.com, which reprinted the instructions for this wonderful cobbler from the September 2004 issue of Southern Living.

Caramel Apple-Pear Cobbler

3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

3 large pears, peeled and sliced

Oatmeal Muffin Batter (see below)

Garnish: toasted pecan halves

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to coat apples. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apple mixture; bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add pears to skillet and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Spoon the hot fruit mixture into a lightly greased 10-inch (8-cup) deep-dish pie plate or shallow 2-quart baking dish. Spoon Oatmeal Muffin Batter evenly over fruit mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Garnish with toasted pecan halves if you desire.

Oatmeal Muffin Batter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup uncooked regular oats

1/2 cup chopped dates (I subbed raisins)

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

In a large mixing bowl combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Make a well in center of mixture. Stir together milk, melted butter, and lightly beaten egg; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. (If you want to use the batter for oatmeal muffins, spoon batter evenly into lightly greased muffin cups in a muffin pan. Fill them 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 10 muffins.)