Heart Healthy Dessert for Valentine’s Day
At the beginning of the year, so many of us have all sorts of new eating and exercise goals. With those goals, it usually means cutting back on our favorite sweet treats after all of the holiday indulgences. Well, I am here to share a healthy dessert that you can feel good about eating this winter and it is a heart healthy dessert.
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Heart Healthy Dessert for Valentine’s Day
For years, I have monitored the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat I eat regularly. However, as I have aged, I now watch how much cholesterol I consume. When I came down with borderline high cholesterol in my late 50s my doctor told me it was time to start watching that number as well. One of the things that I started doing was eating an apple, a pear, or Brussels sprouts daily. They supposedly help absorb some of the bad cholesterol. I don’t know if that helped or just dialing in my diet a bit. My goal is to eat more heart healthy in general.
A sweet treat for Valentine’s Day or after a nice dinner at home is something I enjoy from time to time. We are a household of two. So I don’t like to make a lot of dessert at once. It can be a temptation even if it is in the freezer. Do you know that feeling too?
I was on a mission to find some recipes that I could adapt to our eating preferences. Not only do I watch my cholesterol intake, but I also cook gluten and dairy-free for other health reasons. Over the years, I have honed my process on how to pick a great recipe. This recipe was adapted from Eating Bird Food.
Baked Stuffed Pears With Oats
This roasted pear recipe is so easy to prepare. Most likely you have all of the ingredients in your pantry so you can whip these up when you need that healthy sweet treat fix.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe pears, you can use Anjou or Bartlett
- 1/4 cup of gluten-free rolled oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
- 2 Tbspn of brown sugar monkfruit sweetener
- 2 Tbspn of chopped pecans
- 1/2 tspn of nutmeg (if you don’t like nutmeg you can use cinnamon or even ginger)
- 1/8 tspn of pink himilayan salt
- 1 1/2 Tbspn of coconut oil (liquid or bring to liquid state in microwave). Most recipes will call for melted butter or room temperature butter, but that is where you will add in cholesterol.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the oats, brown sugar sweetener, pecans, nutmeg, and coconut oil in a bowl. Mix until combined.
- Cut your ripe pears in half and place them on a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Use a melon baller to scoop out the seeds and some pear to make room to stuff the pears.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until your stuffed pears are tender. How long you need to bake them can vary depending on their size and ripeness.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
The good news is that you can make this baked pears recipe ahead of time or as a healthy food prep option. Just store them in the refrigerator. You can reheat them in the microwave or the oven at 350 for a few minutes.
Indulgent Topping Options
There are all sorts of topping options for this pear recipe. It just depends on your taste buds and the flavors you like. Feel free to experiment with some different combinations. You have two halves after all.
- Drizzle some melted chocolate chips on it so that the oats are almost chocolate dipped.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon or sugar cinnamon for added sweetness.
- Add a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
- Drizzle with a caramel sauce.
- Add a drizzle of peanut butter.
Thanks, Let’s Keep In Touch
Thanks so much for stopping by. Let me know if you try this heart-healthy roasted pear recipe and which toppings you enjoy the most. I’m always up for trying new healthy dessert recipes so if you have one you love, please let me know in the comments below. It’s even better if the recipes can be made into a heart healthy dessert with a few tweaks.
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