Description

These easy stewed pears are made with 6 simple ingredients in 15 minutes. The sliced pears are stewed in a delicious syrup with vanilla, cinnamon, star anise, and coconut sugar, resulting in irresistibly soft pears. Delicious with ice cream, yogurt, porridge, pancakes, waffles, or on their own.

Ingredients

Scale

4 pears, peeled and cored, cut into quarters (not too thin)
5 fl oz/ 150 ml water
25 gr / 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (see notes)
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 vanilla bean
½ lemon (juice)

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Instructions

Prepare the pears
Wash and peel the pears, remove the core and cut into quarters or slices.
Sprinkle the sliced pears with lemon juice to flavor and prevent them from browning.
Make the syrup
Split the vanilla bean open in half and lay it flat on a cutting surface with a sharp knife slice down the middle (lengthwise) and then run the knife down the length to scrap up the seeds.
To a pot or saucepan, add the water, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and star anise and heat on a gentle simmer (medium heat) until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Stew pears
When the sugar has dissolved, add the sliced pears to the saucepan. Most of the pears should be covered with the syrup/liquid. Let simmer on low heat.
After 1-2 minutes, drizzle some of the liquid with a spoon over the pears if they are not immersed in the liquid. If the liquid evaporates too fast, slowly add a bit more water.

Let simmer for a few more minutes on low heat. They are ready when they are soft but not falling apart. This can be 5-7 minutes for ripe pears and up to 15 minutes for firmer pears.
Check if the pears are done by gently piercing them with a fork or knife. Soft stewed pears should be easy to pierce without them falling apart.
Remove the pears one by one from the saucepan. Remove the cinnamon stick and anise star. Pour the syrup into a container and use to drizzle over the pears when they are served.
Serve warm or place in the fridge and serve cold. These pears are delicious with breakfast and dessert recipes such as pancakes, ice cream, porridge, or yogurt.

Equipment

non stick pan

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Notes

Pears
Slightly underripe pears are better than very soft overripe pears, as they will turn mushy. The cooking time depends on how firm or soft the pears are.

Sugar
For this recipe, any sugar can be used in any form (also syrups). Coconut sugar, brown sugar, xylitol, and maple syrup are good options, but feel free to experiment with monk fruit or date syrup too. The amount of sweetness is a personal preference, and it also depends on the sweetness of the pears. This recipe is sweet, using ripe pears and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Lemon juice
While lemons add a bright, citrusy flavor, they can be substituted with orange juice. It will not prevent the pears from turning brown, so it’s best to work quickly when substituting the lemon juice.

Spices
This syrup is flavored with a cinnamon stick and star anise. Cinnamon is an excellent combination with pears, but you can substitute the star anise for other spices, such as a slice of ginger, a few cloves, a few cardamom pods, or a sprinkle of pumpkin spice or allspice.

Vanilla/ cinnamon
I use a fresh vanilla pod for this recipe, but you may also use a few drops of vanilla essence. Instead of a cinnamon stick, feel free to use 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Water
The base for this syrup is water, but you can make this recipe a bit fancier by using white or red wine instead of water. Apple juice instead of water can give this recipe more sweetness without having to use more sugar.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 4
Calories: 503