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Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

 

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com

Why is it important to be heart healthy? Today’s post really hits home as a lot of people are affected by heart disease, whether it runs in the family or whether it’s someone they know. Kim from Cravings of a Lunatic and Jen from Juanita’s Cocina want to dedicate today to their loved ones and invited me to share a heart-healthy treat. Of course, being the girl who loves fat, it was a little bit of a challenge, but thanks to my dad’s love of fruit, I made these Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce. With just only two servings, you can share this dessert with your loved one and know that dessert can be heart healthy.

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com
Kim’s and Jen’s lives were turned upside down one day because of heart disease. Fortunately, I don’t have any stories like that in my family, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore being heart healthy. My dad’s friend suffered a heart attack a few years ago. Then just two weeks ago there were several people in my community who either passed away from or survived a heart attack. Every day that my parents get older, I worry about their health. It almost makes me want to move closer to home (actually, I would in a heart beat, but it’s all about job availability).

 

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com

I thought about doing a healthy dinner or even breakfast, but I wanted to challenge myself and make a heart healthy dessert. After all, you need a little sweetness in life, no matter what your diet is. What makes these Mini Pear Walnut Crisps heart healthy? The fruit and the nuts. Pears are a great source of vitamins, potassium, and antioxidants that help prevent high blood pressure and stroke. Walnuts have been approved by the FDA for being heart healthy. There is also little fat added (the ice cream part is optional if you’re super conscious about calories).

 

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com

Of course, you can’t have a warm crisp without ice cream, and you can’t have ice cream without sauce. I still have half a bunch of blood oranges left, which inspired the Blood Orange Caramel Sauce. I remember when I made Dorie Greenspan’s Scallops with Orange Caramel Sauce. I took her recipe, used blood orange juice then substituted water for the wine.

 

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce | www.chocolatemoosey.com

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

Crisp

  • 1 cup chopped pear, peeled (roughly 1 small pear)
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon clove

Streusel

  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 1 Tablespoon quick cooking oats
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon clove
  • 1 Tablespoon butter

Sauce

  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons blood orange juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/2 Tablespoon butter

Instructions

For the crisp:

  2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Have two ramekins ready.
  3. In a medium bowl, toss together the pear, walnuts, lemon juice, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon, and clove. Spoon into the ramekins. Set aside.

For the streusel:

  2. In another medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and clove. Cut in the butter with a knife until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle evenly over both ramekins. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crisp bubbles and the streusel is brown.
  3. Toss apple and pear slices with lemon juice and vanilla in large bowl. Mix cornstarch and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle over fruit; toss to coat well. Spoon into 11x7-inch baking dish sprayed with no stick cooking spray.
  4. For the Topping, mix brown sugar, flour, oats and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle evenly over fruit.
  5. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

For the sauce:

  2. While the crisps are baking, in a small saucepan, warm the sugar over medium-high heat until it starts to melt. As soon as you see it turn brown, begin to gently swirl the pan. Once it starts turning a caramel color, very carefully add the orange juice and water (it will bubble and spatter, so you may need to stand back). Stir with a wooden spoon and boil until it is reduced by half (it should roughly be about 2 1/2 tablespoons or so). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Serve the crisps with ice cream and caramel sauce.
© Carla Cardello (www.chocolatemoosey.com)

Source: Adapted from McCormick and Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table

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If you are looking for more heart healthy recipes, check out the other bloggers participating today:

Healthy Snacking with Radish Dip by Juanita’s Cocina

Arugula, Walnut Pesto by Dinners, Dishes and Desserts

Farro, Apple & Pecan Salad by It’s Yummilicious

Chicken-Quinoa Burgers with an Avocado Yogurt Sauce by The Spiffy Cookie

Pasta House Wilted Salad by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker

Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars by The Cooking Actress

Dark Chocolate Covered Walnuts by All Day I Dream About Food

Mini Pear Walnut Crisps with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce by Chocolate Moosey

Kung Pao Chicken Tacos by The Dutch Baker’s Daughter

Honey Soy Glazed Salmon by Curry and Comfort

Apple Walnut Spinach Salad by Magnolia Days

Broiled Salmon Gyros with Cucumber Feta Yogurt Dip by Damn Delicious

Maple Mustard Glazed Salmon by That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Make-Ahead Chocolate Oatmeal by Crumb

Hoisin Flounder by Taking on Magazines

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Veggie Nachos by Dine & Dish

Cheesy Quinoa and Asparagus Bake by Hungry Couple

Ahi Tuna Salad by Noshing with the Nolands

Canapes of Apricot, Goat Cheese, Almonds and Rosemary by Cook the Story

Thai Chicken Soup by From Cupcakes to Caviar

Italian Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf by Rachel Cooks

Black Bean Quesadillas by Pastry Chef Online

Sautéed Rataouille with Quinoa by Whipped

Polenta Rounds with Apples and Cheddar by Diethood

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. I’ve been making the rounds today checking out everyone’s posts and stories. My grandmother was a HUGE crisp fan and she would have loved this. Sadly we lost her in 1995 to a heart attack. it’s so important to keep these memories alive.

    Reply

  3. Thanks so much for joining us today Carla. It was a pleasure to have you and I’m so thrilled you shared a dessert recipe. It looks wickedly delish and I think this is one I need to try. I am so honoured to have you share your story and recipe with us today. It means so much to me. xx

    Reply

  6. What a fabulous foodie cause. Heart disease runs in my family. My dad has had high cholesterol for as long as I can remember and although I always joke that I’m headed towards a future of heart disease and type II diabetes, my comments are grounded in reality. I really need to do something about my fatty diet and lack of exercise. I’m glad you tackled health-ifying a dessert – if I couldn’t eat sweets, I’d be devastated! This crisp looks amazing, especially with that luscious blood orange caramel sauce.

    Reply

  10. This is the kind of heart healthy dessert I can get along with! I love pear desserts, though I would totally have this for breakfast, sans the ice cream of course :)

    Reply

  14. Good for you for making a healthy dessert! It sounds lovely, Carla! I have been having a ball playing with blood oranges too, recently. Love your spin on blood orange caramel sauce. :)

    Reply

  16. These crisps look delicious, but it’s the Blood Orange Caramel Sauce that really caught my eye. Is it wrong that I kind of want to chug an entire cup of the stuff? (Probably, but I don’t care.) :)
    I can relate to how hard it is to have aging parents living far away enough that you can’t just drop in to make sure they’re OK. I worry about mine all the time – we had a bit of a scare with my dad last year, and it was hard not being in the same city. :( Fingers crossed that the stars align and you can find the perfect job in the perfect place.

    Reply

  18. Dear Carla,
    I love your site,you feel like a very close friend for me,thank you! I have two questions what is cookie butter and how big are the ramekins you use for the mini pear walnut crisps?Thanks for the fabulous recipes,i’ve tried quite a few.My husband says I can bake BUT can’t cook haha.Have a great day……………Alanna

    Reply

    • Hi Alanna,

      Thanks for the comment! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipes :)

      1. Cookie butter is a spread very similar to peanut butter that is made of cookies, either speculoos or Biscoff cookies. It tastes like graham crackers with some gingersnap spice. You can find a jar either at Trader Joe’s (their brand) or at Walmart (Biscoff brand and is located next to Nutella in the peanut butter aisle). Here’s one of my posts that explains Biscoff and shows the jar: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2012/08/17/no-bake-egg-free-biscoff-swirl-cheesecake-guest-post-for-a-culinary-journey/

      2. The greens one in particular are 3 inches. However, the standard white ones you find at the stores are 4 inches. Both work in this recipe.

      Reply

  19. Carla,
    Like I need an excuse to eat salted caramel ice cream–but if I did, this would be an excellent one. Thanks for giving me the link to include in my upcoming Band Fruit Fundraiser Recipe Round Up! It will be published on 12/4/2013!

    Reply

  20. I think steps 4,5,6 are from another a recipe They repeat what is written earlier.The ingredients mentioned have already been used and they mention stuff(apples) which isn’t in the recipe.

    Reply

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