Baked Pears with Feta & Honey (Printable version)

Juicy baked pears stuffed with feta, honey, cranberries and warm cinnamon—finished with lemon zest and mint.

# What you need:

→ Pears

01 - 4 ripe but firm Bosc or Anjou pears

→ Filling

02 - 3.5 oz feta cheese, crumbled
03 - 3 tbsp dried cranberries
04 - 2 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)
05 - 2 tbsp honey, plus extra for drizzling
06 - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
07 - Zest of 1 lemon

→ Garnish

08 - Fresh mint leaves

# How To:

01 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper.
02 - Halve the pears lengthwise and scoop out the core and seeds, creating a small cavity in each half using a spoon or melon baller.
03 - In a small bowl, combine the crumbled feta cheese, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts (if using), 2 tbsp honey, ground cinnamon, and lemon zest until evenly mixed.
04 - Arrange the pear halves cut side up in the prepared baking dish. Generously fill each cavity with the feta mixture, pressing gently to pack the filling.
05 - Drizzle a little extra honey over each stuffed pear half.
06 - Bake for 20–25 minutes until the pears are fork-tender and the edges are lightly caramelized.
07 - Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and serve warm.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It looks like something from a restaurant menu but requires almost zero skill to pull off.
  • The salty sweet contrast between baked feta and honey soaked pears will ruin plain desserts for you forever.
02 -
  • Under ripe pears will not soften enough in the oven no matter how long you bake them, so choose ones that yield slightly when pressed near the stem.
  • Overfilling the cavities causes the mixture to spill out and burn on the parchment, so aim for a modest dome rather than a mountain.
03 -
  • A pinch of flaky sea salt on top right before serving makes the honey taste exponentially more complex and the feta more savory.
  • Serve these within 30 minutes of coming out of the oven because cooled pears release juice that makes the filling soggy over time.

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