Take advantage of harvest fruit with these perfect-for-autumn Pear & Cranberry & Crumble Cups ...
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Wonderful at room temperature eaten by hand; even more luscious warm covered in custard or double cream |
Autumm is such a great time for English apples and pears and this twist on classic Oatmeal Date Bars makes good use of them.
The kitchen had a bag of wallet-friendly ripen-at-home pears; with lots of oatmeal in the cupboard and dairy and plant butter in the fridge, the result was these gorgeously fruity, individual crumble cups.
They can't truly be called healthy but there's an option for lower sugar. The flour is lower-gluten spelt, however, and the high proportion of oatmeal helps lower cholesterol and maintain good digestion. Fresh fruit, of course, adds lip-smacking goodness.
You could go 50-50 pear and apple or replace with all apples.
The recipe is easy; kids attacking homework would find the 20 minutes involved both relaxing and rewarding!
This can be made in a flat dish and cut into 16 servings or in a lined cupcake tin. These colourful little cups though, bought online, look very pretty and the little treats slip out easily.
Cost: £4'ish (9/25)
Makes: 16-20 (recipe halves nicely)
Ingred:
350g/12.3 oz fresh peeled & cored firm pears (about 4 Conference)
spices (opt):
1 cup/120gm/4.2oz rolled oats or Uber Granola (67 used English cup measures)
1 cup/142gm/ 5oz plain spelt or common wheat flour generous handful sunflower seeds or chopped nuts (optional)
1 pinch salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
light brown sugar: min generous half cup/100'ish g/3.55'ish oz - maximum 2/3 cup/127gm/5oz light brown sugar
3.8oz/110g dairy or plant butter, or a mix of both, softened
splash of brandy
Method: