Last night, my daughter made baked pears. We had some pears in the fridge that were pretty ripe and headed for the compost in a couple of days.  Instead of being thrown out, my daughter made one of the best sugar-free desserts:  baked pears. This recipe is super simple and delicious.

As a family, we’ve been trying to steer clear of sugar, but we do have sweet teeth.  This recipe fulfilled that after dinner craving while being sugar-free.

Why should make sugar-free desserts?

My dietary habits have been influenced a lot by Dr. Hyman lately.  He explains the danger of sugar:

A rigorously done new study shows that those with the highest sugar intake had a four-fold increase in their risk of heart attacks compared to those with the lowest intakes. That’s 400%! Just one 20-ounce soda increases your risk of a heart attack by about 30%…

In fact, the Institute of Medicine recommends getting no more than 25% of your total calories from added sugar. Really?? This study showed that your risk of heart attacks doubles if sugar makes up 20% of your calories.

Yet more than 70% of Americans consume 10% of their daily calories from sugar. And about 10% of Americans consume one in every four of their calories from sugar…

Here’s the simple fact: Sugar calories are worse than other calories. All calories are not created equal. A recent study of more than 175 countries found that increasing overall calories didn’t increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, but increasing sugar calories did — dramatically.((http://drhyman.com/blog/2014/02/07/eggs-dont-cause-heart-attacks-sugar/))

Sugar-Free Desserts:  Baked Pears Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Slice each pear in half and scoop out the core. Use as many pears as you like. Place face down on cookie sheet.
4. Rub the skins of the pears with coconut oil.
5.  Bake for 30 minutes.
6. In a blender, grind up almonds (1/4 per 3 pears).  Mix with coconut oil (1 Tbs per 1/4 cup)
7. Flip pears over and top with nuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
8. Bake another 15-20 minutes until browned.

This recipe is so simple and a great way to curve your sugar cravings.  I find that if I abstain for just three days from sugar, I no longer crave it.

This recipe is adapted from Indiaphile.