Zesty Olive - Simple, Tasty, and Healthy Recipes * Page 37 of 52 * Zesty Olive

Maple and Cinnamon Baked Pears

Maple Cinnamon Baked Pears are an easy and elegant dessert for fall and beyond.

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It’s pear season and it’s the perfect time to infuse these delicate-flavored fruits with warm spices. Baking the pears allows the pears to soften and absorb the flavors of the maple, cinnamon and ginger.

There are so many pear varieties from which to choose, so take your pick. Here, I used organic Bartlett pears.

Wash and dry your pears. Leave the skins on. Cut the pears lengthwise down the middle and using a melon baller or a small teaspoon, remove the core and seeds. Arrange pears, cut-side up, in a casserole dish or sheet pan. Optional: I like to line my casserole dish with parchment paper for easier cleanup.

Sprinkle the pears with ground cinnamon and ground ginger. If you like lots of spice, add more. I’m fairly liberal with my use of the spices! Add vanilla extract to maple syrup and stir to combine. Carefully spoon or pour the mixture over the pears, making sure to cover all the flesh. You’ll probably have a small pool of syrup in the bottom of the dish. That’s fine; I like to spoon a bit of the warm syrup over the finished product right before serving. If you serve the pears with a scoop of ice cream, drizzle a bit of the syrup over the ice cream, too!

Optional garnish: I like to add a chopped nuts to the pears before serving. Here, I used chopped pecans, but walnuts would be yummy, too.

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Maple and Cinnamon Baked Pears

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

Maple and Cinnamon Baked Pears

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 4

Ingredients

4 Bartlett pears
½ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
Optional toppings: chopped pecans or walnuts, a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Optional: Line baking dish or baking sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup.
Wash and dry your pears. Leave the skins on. Cut the pears lengthwise down the middle and using a melon baller or a small teaspoon, remove the core and seeds. Arrange pears, cut-side up, in a casserole dish or sheet pan.
Sprinkle the pears with ground cinnamon and ground ginger.
Add vanilla extract to maple syrup and stir to combine. Carefully spoon or pour the mixture over the pears, making sure to cover all the flesh.
Bake pears, uncovered for 25-30 minutes until tender and lightly browned around the edges.
Serve immediately, garnished with nuts and a side of vanilla ice cream.
Optional garnish: Chopped nuts; pecans or walnuts. Drizzle with any remaining syrup mixture from baking dish.
Note: Leftover pears will keep in the refrigerator, tightly sealed, for 2-3 days.

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Chicken, Recipes, Vegetables

Dutch Oven Balsamic Chicken And Vegetables

Savory Dutch Oven Balsamic Chicken And Vegetables are a fall and winter favorite!

Note: This post contains affiliate links for products on Amazon.

I used a dutch oven for this meal, but you can also use a large baking/casserole dish if you prefer. Just make sure it’s large enough to hold all the ingredients without spilling over because you’ll need to cover it tightly with foil.

Lightly oil the bottom of your dutch oven with olive oil. Nestle 2-4 boneless chicken breasts in the bottom. I use thin breasts, so if each piece is large and thick, consider butterflying the meat or slicing each breast horizontally to create two thiner pieces from each piece. Then pile on the veggies. I used a bag of tri-colored potatoes, a few rainbow carrots, and one large sweet onion. I chopped them into large chunks and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I also added a few cloves of garlic, rough-chopped. Look how pretty they are!

Want more dutch oven recipes? Check out this amazing cookbook with oodles of recipes for soups, stews, desserts, savory meals and more. It’s a keeper!

Add 1 cup water or white wine, and 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar to the pot. Lastly, add some herbs – I used about 1 tablespoon of an Italian seasoning blend. Fresh herbs would be amazing if you have them on hand. Put the lid on and bake for an hour at 350°.

About half way through I added some frozen peas to the pot and checked the liquid levels. You may or may not need to add a little more wine or water. Depending on how tender you like your veggies, continue cooking for another 30 to 45 minutes.

(Here’s my favorite dutch oven. Everything cooks evenly and cleanup is a breeze!)

When ready, serve up this deliciousness!

If you’re a balsamic vinegar lover, you might want to add just a dash more of that yumminess to the final product. Enjoy!

If you like these recipes, consider joining the Zesty Recipes Facebook Group. We’d love to have you!

Dutch Oven Balsamic Chicken And Vegetables

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

Dutch Oven Balsamic Chicken And Vegetables

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

2-4 boneless chicken breasts (I use thin breasts, so if each piece is large and thick, consider butterflying the meat or slicing each breast horizontally to create two thiner pieces from each piece.)
1 bag (1.5 lbs) tri-colored potatoes
4-5 large carrots
1 large sweet onion,
2 cloves garlic
1½ cups frozen peas
1 cup white wine (or water)
⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Equipment: Dutch Oven or large baking/casserole dish
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Lightly oil the bottom of your dutch oven with olive oil. Nestle 2-4 boneless chicken breasts in the bottom.
Wash and scrub potatoes. Cut in half and add to pot.
Wash carrots. Cut off ends. Peel if desired. Chop into large chunks and add to pot.
Peel and chop onion and garlic cloves into large chunks and add to pot.
Salt and pepper generously.
Add 1 cup water or white wine, and ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar to the pot.
Lastly, add Italian seasoning blend.
Put the lid on and bake for 50 minutes.
Carefully remove dutch oven and/or lid and add frozen peas to the pot. Also check liquid level and add more wine or water if needed.
**Continue baking for another 30-45 minutes, depending on how tender you want your vegetables.

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Brownies and Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars

These Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars are a delicious combination of an apple pie and an apple crisp!

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These gluten-free apple pie shortbread bars and simple to make and are yummy with or without the gooey drizzle on the top.

Without the drizzle:

Here’s how it came together. Using my KitchenAid stand mixer, I made the gluten-free shortbread and pressed it into the bottom of a parchment-lined 8 x 8 baking dish. While I baked the shortbread for 15 minutes, I assembled the apple filling in a large bowl and spiced up the apple slices with ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a little gluten-free flour.

I also had time to make the crumb topping mixture with melted butter, brown sugar and gluten-free flour. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1- Baking Flour for this recipe.

Once the shortbread was finished baking, I topped it with half of the crumb mixture, added the sliced apple mixture, and then completed it with the remainder of the topping. I baked it for 45 minutes and then let it cool for a few hours before refrigerating it overnight.

The next day, after it was set, I lifted it out of the pan and cut it into bars. I made a quick drizzle with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and decorated the bars. This last step is totally optional, but I like a little gooey drizzle just to top it off.

Result? Seriously apple pie slash apple crisp heaven!

What would make this over-the-top? A scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! Sadly, I did not get that shot before the bars were consumed! But you can just pretend you see that scoop sitting on top…right? 😉

Try these Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars this fall (or anytime) and let me know how you like them!

Looking for more gluten-free yummy brownies and bars? You may like these, too:

Gluten-free Cherry Chocolate Blondie Bars
Gluten-free Almond Butter and Chocolate Chip Blondies
Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 9-12

Ingredients

Shortbread
½ cup unsalted organic butter, room temperature
¼ cup organic sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
Apple Filling
3 organic apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour
2 Tablespoons organic brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Topping
½ cup gluten-free flour
¾ cup organic brown sugar, packed
¼ cup organic butter, melted or at room temperature to cut in
Drizzle
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300° F.
Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure and bring the parchment up the sides so it will be easy to lift out later when you’re ready to cut the bars.
Shortbread Base
Using a stand mixer, place butter in bowl and mix on high for at least 5 minutes . Butter should be more white than yellow at this point; that's how you'll know it's creamed.
Add sugar, vanilla, and salt to the butter and combine.
Once combined, add in the gluten-free flour and mix well.
Press the mixture into the parchment lined pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
Apple Filling
In a large bowl, combine the apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Make sure all the apples are well coated.
Crumb Topping
Mix the gluten-free flour and ¾ cup brown sugar. Cut in the butter with a fork until crumble-like consistency is achieved.
Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350° F.
Sprinkle half of the crumb topping over the short bread and then layer the apples on top.
Finally, sprinkle the remainder of the crumb topping on top and place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes. Because oven temperatures vary, you may need to bake yours a little longer. You want to make sure the apples are tender. Test with a fork.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully (at least a few hours) before covering and placing in the refrigerator overnight to set.
Once it's set, remove from baking dish by lifting out the parchment paper and cutting into bars.
Drizzle
Sift powdered sugar into bowl. Add milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
Drizzle mixture over bars and let set before serving.

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