Baked Pears with Crunchy Topping

Baked pears with crunchy topping is a mix of great flavors and textures: pears are baked with a whole grain cereal filling and topped off with yogurt. 

I didn’t grow up in a cereal-for-breakfast family. Actually, my parents aren’t big breakfast eaters [no surprise there since I’m not either]. But something happened when Joey was born and we began his journey with solid foods: he became a cereal aficionado. I’m pretty sure you can give any toddler that title because there’s something that’s so snackable and delish about crunchy cereal and their little teeth and taste buds. And lucky for my boys, Mom knows some tips and tricks to picking healthier options down that cereal aisle at the grocery store. And she even knows there’s more to pairing cereal with milk [I’ll get to these baked pears with crunchy topping in a minute].

Here’s my criteria for fueling Joey’s and Anthony’s cereal obsession: the cereal needs to be a good source of fiber, made with whole grains, and relatively low in sugar. So when Post Foods reached out to me to try their Great Grains whole grain cereal, Joey happily accepted the samples— and I did too, because they met my criteria! Joey also obliged to being my assistant in developing a new recipe that included this healthy Great Grains cereal: baked pears with crunchy topping.

While we enjoyed a bowl of the Great Grains Crunchy Pecans with a glass of milk, the sweet crunchy texture of the cereal reminded me of a lighter granola— there’s whole grain clusters and pieces of pecans right in the mix. And because granola with yogurt is like peas are to carrots, I knew I wanted to make a recipe that a. included yogurt and b. a serving of fruit. Because whether or not you eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack, you should round out the meal with dairy and a serving of fruit [says the registered dietitian Mom]. And that’s the long-story short as to how and why I created these baked pears with crunchy topping. Joey concurred with Mom’s reasoning and will happily develop recipes and be my taste-tester for future Great Grains recipes!

Craving a piece of holiday pie? Try these baked pears with crunchy topping instead! Click To Tweet

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Baked Pears with Crunchy Topping

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Author: Katie Serbinski

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup Great Grains Crunch Pecans cereal
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoons honey
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large fresh pears
• Optional: vanilla Greek yogurt, extra cinnamon for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients. Stir to combine.
2. Cut pears lengthwise. Scoop out the core and seeds. Cut ¼ inch from the skin-side of the pear so they lay flat in baking dish.
3. Place each pear half skin-side down in baking dish. Top with ¼ cup of cereal mixture. Add a tablespoon or two of water to the baking dish [so the pears do not stick to the pan when baking].
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately with yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

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