Cranberry and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears

These stuffed pears make an incredibly elegant autumn dessert!

Tender baked pears are filled with sweet and tart cranberries, creamy goat cheese, and crunchy cinnamon oat crumble for an end of a meal out-of-body experience!

How to make cranberry and goat cheese stuffed pears

Featured Ingredients

• Fresh Cranberries: In the fall fresh cranberries are usually abundant in the produce section of the grocery store or at your local farmers market. However, if you can’t find them fresh, feel free to substitute frozen and thaw them according to the package directions.
• Honey: There are a world of honey types to choose from for these cranberry and goat cheese stuffed pears! Try light honeys like, Acacia, clover, Fireweed, Orange Blossom, or Tupelo. We would recommend that you stay with golden honey types, rather than dark honey like buckwheat, because darker honey with might overwhelm the delicate nature of the pears. We like to use darker honey for things like a meat marinade because it’s fairly bold and assertive.
• Bartlett Pears: We really love these pears! They’re sweet and juicy, and hold up well to baking. But, if you can’t find any Bartlett pears, you can definitely substitute in Bosc pears. They have a delicate sweetness that is still evident even after baking.
• Lemon Juice: The lemon juice plays a twofold role here. First, it brings a lovely citrusy note to the pears and secondly it also keeps them from oxidizing after you halve them and remove the seeds.
• Goat Cheese: You can use goat cheese in a log or the spreadable type you find in a plastic container. You probably want to avoid crumbled goat cheese, because it would be harder to combine into a spread. Fun goat cheese fact: It’s easier on the digestion than cow’s milk cheese! But, that’s not why we love it. We love how tangy and bright the cheese is, which makes it perfect for a dessert like this one.
• Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: These add a wonderful textural contrast to the creamy cheese, soft pears, and cranberry mixture. The oats are loaded with fiber, which is good for maintaining healthy cholesterol and they’re great to help regulate blood sugar. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but are often processed in factories with grains. So, if gluten is a concern, make sure to only buy brands that have the “gluten-free” designation on the bag.
• Chopped Walnuts or Pecans: We love both these types of nuts in this dessert! They add a buttery richness that works incredibly well with all of the other ingredients. However, if you have pistachios on hand, they would work incredibly well too!

Equipment Needed

• A stove and an oven.
• A cutting board and chef's knife.
• A melon baller or spoon.
• A 9x13 baking dish.
• A medium saucepan and spoon to make the cranberry sauce.
• A medium mixing bowl, hand mixer and flat spatula to make the whipped goat cheese.
• A small bowl and spoon to mix together the oat crumble.
• A baking sheet with parchment paper to roast the oat crumble.
• Serving plates and forks to serve.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, heat cranberries, ¼ cup water and sugar to medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook about 7-8 minutes, until cranberries just start to soften and mixture has slightly thickened. Remove from heat.
3. Trim a very thin slice off each side of the pears (so they don't roll around in the baking dish). Cut each pear in half lengthwise. Hollow just the center of the pears with a melon baller or spoon, creating a cavity for the filling. Rub each pear with lemon juice. Bake 17-20 minutes, until just tender (if pear is ripe, it will take less time to cook).
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together oats, walnuts, cinnamon, melted butter and brown sugar. Place a spoonful of oat mixture on each pear. Spread the oat mixture out on the prepared baking sheet in a thin layer. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until toasted. Set aside and let slightly cool. Break the oat crumble apart into pieces.
5. In another small bowl, beat goat cheese and honey with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
6. Place a spoonful of goat cheese mixture into each baked pear. Place a spoonful of cranberry mixture into each pear, on top of the goat cheese mixture. Top each with a few spoonfuls of the toasted oat crumble.
7. Drizzle with additional honey, if desired. Serve immediately.

Recipe Substitutions and Alternatives

• Instead of pears: Try this recipe with apples.
• Add zing to the cranberries: Add fresh ginger and orange zest to the cranberries.
• Short on time? Use premade chunky cranberry sauce.
• Instead of goat cheese: Try with ricotta, ricotta con latte or Greek yogurt.
• For the nuts: Use walnuts, pecans, pistachios or almonds for the oat crumble.
• For the brown sugar: Use dark or light brown for the oat crumble.

Nutrition Considerations

• To make it gluten free: Use gluten free oats and be sure all other packaged ingredients are gluten free:
• To make it dairy free: Skip the goat cheese filling and add more cranberries.
• To make it vegan: Skip the goat cheese filling and add more cranberries.
• To make it nut free: Skip the nuts in the oat crumble.

Fabulous fall recipes:

• Brussels Sprouts Cranberry Salad
• Hasselback Butternut Squash with Cinnamon Butter
• Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins
• Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins with Graham Cracker Crumble
• Roasted Acorn Squash Salad
• Country Apple Fritter Bread

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