The most elegant dessert to finish off a holiday meal, a romantic meal for two, or a self-love day! If baking cakes is not your forte or you’re craving a change to your usual desserts, this easy baked pear dessert is a delicious treat!
Sugar-free dessert never looked better!
Simple to make,
Warm,
Comforting,
Naturally Sweet,
And you can boost up the dessert factor with ice cream & whip!
Sugar-Free Baked Pear Dessert
I love that this is such an elegant sugar-free dessert!
Instead of making a simple sugar syrup for this baked pear dessert, I use the natural sweetness of dates to create a caramel-like sauce for these golden baked fruits! All you need is:
- Pitted deglet noor dates
- Water
- A pinch of sea salt
- And a dash of vanilla extract
Blend them all together, dilute some of the syrup to pour over the fruit as it bakes in the oven, and use the reserved date syrup to drizzle over the finished dessert!
I use pitted deglet noor dates for this recipe because they are priced much lower for me than medjool dates. We reserve the juicy medjool dates for our Favourite Daily Snack and this decadent Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Date Dessert!
And for the candied almond topping, I use a drizzle of maple syrup BUT you can use the same naturally sweetened date syrup!
Using half a tablespoon to one tablespoon of the reserved date syrup is a tasty way to coat the almonds but the water content in the syrup does make the almonds softer. They lose their crunchiness and have a bit more of a chewy texture. For this reason, I prefer the maple syrup but feel free to give the almonds a little something extra and keep them sugar-free!
Which Pears Are Best
Thankfully, it is hard to go wrong with this recipe! Baking the fruit amplifies their natural sweetness so it will always be a tasty dessert. BUT…
- I have found that starting with pears that are a little soft (a little more ripe) will produce softer baked pears.
- If the pears are quite hard, you will likely need a knife to help slice the baked pear (I personally don’t mind the little bit of crunch)! The firmer texture of the pear is a nice compliment to the very soft peaches and plums.
- Bosc, Anjou, and Bartlett pears will all work well for baking. In these photos and in our recipe video I am using bosc.
How To Core And Bake The Fruit
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Slice your pears in half and use a spoon to remove the core. I like to keep the stem in place for looks!
- Quarter your plums and remove the pit. Plums are usually soft enough that the pit will come out quite easily.
- The peaches might take a bit more muscle if they are firm. Slice them in half, gently twist the two sides until one half dislodges from the pit, and use a spoon to remove the pit from the other half.
*I highly suggest using a spoon to core and pit the fruit. If your hands slip on the slippery fruit with a spoon – no harm will be done. With a knife there is a higher chance you could knick yourself. Safety first!
Make sure to watch our recipe video linked in the recipe card to see me demonstrate!
- Pile your fruit in a casserole dish,
- Drizzle with the diluted date syrup,
- And bake for 35 to 45 minutes!
- Baste occasionally with the syrup and extra water if needed!
An Alternate Simple Sugar Syrup
If you don’t have access to dates or need a slightly quicker option to the blended date syrup… you can make a simple sugar syrup:
- Add ¾ cup water to a small pot
- With 2 tablespoon maple syrup (or granulated sugar of choice)
- Bring to a low boil
- Boil until the sugar is dissolved
- Splash in ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- And pour this simple sugar syrup over your fruit before it goes in the oven.
Serving Your Baked Pear Dessert
I love serving this elegant baked fruit dessert with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream and our Fluffiest 5 Minute Coconut Whipped Cream!
*Try substituting the vanilla extract in our whipped cream recipe for almond extract! It compliments the toasted almond topping perfectly!
If you decide to make a simple sugar syrup instead of the date syrup you can drizzle the finished dessert with:
- Our Heavenly Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
- Festive pomegranate molasses like we make for our Beautiful Pomegranate Jackfruit Fesenjan
- Melted chocolate chips
- Or… warmed almond or nut butter!
Let us know in the comments below if you try this elegant baked pear dessert and if sugar-free dessert options are something you want to see more of!
If you like this recipe, make sure to jump over to our Warm Cinnamon Apples that are so quick to make we put them on our morning oatmeals all throughout the colder months! You might also love our Caramelized Cinnamon Plantain dessert!
Oh… and these Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies are another easy sugar-free treat!
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Baked Pear & Stone Fruit – The Most Elegant Dessert
- Total Time: 65 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
An easy and elegant baked pear dessert with peaches, plums, and a naturally sweetened date syrup. Serve with whip & ice cream to top it off!
Ingredients
- 2 pears, halved (slightly soft bosc, anjou, or bartlett work well)*
- 3 peaches, halved*
- 3 plums, quartered*
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- Rosemary to garnish*
Date Syrup (see notes for an alternate option)
- ⅓ cup deglet noor dates (softened in warm water for 5 min)
- 1 cup fresh water
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
Candied Almonds (see notes for a sugar-free option)
- ⅓ cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
- ½ tbsp maple syrup (increase to 1 tbsp for a crunchier coating)
*Fresh ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
- Start by making the date syrup. If your dates are a little hard from being stored in the fridge, soak them in very warm water for a 5 to 10 minutes to soften. Softening your dates will make them easier to blend.
- In a blender or food processor blend the dates, fresh water, vanilla, and sea salt until smooth (depending on the strength of your machine you may still have small flecks of dates in the mixture and that’s alright).
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and slice your fruit. For the pears, slice them in half and use a spoon to dig out the core. For the peaches, slice them in half and use a spoon to loosen and remove the pit. For the plums, slice in quarters and remove the pit. *Use a spoon to remove the pits so you don’t slip with a knife (watch our recipe video where I demonstrate how to prepare the fruit!)
- Place all the fruit and some sprigs of rosemary, if using, in a roasting dish. (I actually prefer only using the rosemary as a garnish for the finished dessert, the rosemary flavour will be quite strong if you bake the sprigs with the fruit). Mix ½ cup of the date syrup you made with ¼ cup of fresh cold water and drizzle that mixture all over the fruit.
- Bake the fruit for 15 minutes. Then open up the oven and baste the fruit with the syrup by spooning the gathered syrup in the dish over the fruit to give them some extra moisture. Bake for another 15 minutes and baste the fruit again (you can add 2 more tablespoons of fresh water to the gathered syrup to make the basting easier). Bake the fruit for a total of 35 – 45 minutes or until the pears are soft. In the last few minutes of baking time splash the fruit with lemon juice.
- For the candied almonds, coarsely chop the almonds and stir the maple syrup over them. Bake them on a parchment lined baking tray for the last 5-6 minutes of the cooking time for the fruit.
- To serve, lift 1 pear halve into each serving dish and surround with the slices of peaches and plums. Sprinkle with candied almonds. Drizzle with the date caramel syrup you reserved and garnish with additional rosemary. Serve with our 5 minute coconut whipped cream and/or some vanilla ice cream if desired. *If you make the coconut whipped cream… try substituting the vanilla extract for almond extract!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $9.38 ($2.35/serving, without fresh rosemary). A batch of our coconut whipped cream to serve alongside this dessert costs us approximately $2.45.
A quick alternate syrup could be a simple sugar syrup. Heat ¾ cup water, 2 tablespoon maple syrup (or sweetener of choice) and ½ tablespoon lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat until the sugar is dissolved and pour over the sliced fruit before baking.
To candy the almonds more naturally you can skip the maple syrup and use a bit of the date syrup. This is a tasty option but the water content in the date syrup does make the nuts softer which is why I prefer the little bit of maple syrup. If you don’t make the date syrup: Pomegranate molasses (we make a homemade version for our Pomegranate Jackfruit Fesenjan), our Heavenly Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, melted chocolate chips, or warmed almond or nut butter would all be wonderful drizzles over the finished dessert.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American, Canadian
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