Healthy Holiday Dessert: Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Poached Pears

There are so many decadent desserts around the holidays.  And while I absolutely enjoy a sweet treat, one of my favourite desserts for the holidays is poached pears.  It's festive, easy to make, pretty healthy and always impresses!  This recipe also includes cinnamon which is a lovely holiday flavour.

What you need:

3 cups water
1 cup, firmly packed brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick (about a 3 inch piece), roughly broken
3 large, just-ripe Bosc pears, unpeeled, cored, cut into thick wedges
Low-fat  vanilla greek yogurt, frozen yogurt or ice cream, to serve

What you do:

-Combine water, sugar & cinnamon in a large saucepan over low heat.
-Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
-Add the pear and stir to combine.
-Cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes or until the pear is tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pear to serving bowls.
-Once pears are out, increase to high heat & bring the syrup to a boil.
-Boil, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until the syrup thickens slightly.
-Divide the pears into 4 bowls or serving dishes.
-Drizzle the syrup over the pears. Serve immediately with yogurt.

To add an additional presentation flair, you can drizzle some melted dark chocolate over each bowl.  Even though this recipe is pretty simple to make, it seems fancy and always gets rave reviews.