Christmas is not necessarily the time for thinking healthy. All the same, it is possible to create some food-related Christmas spirit without consuming 2000 calories per bite. Using fruits that are already packed with their own natural sugars is a great way to start and for a crunchy crumble, look to oats! Oats not only contain easily digestible fibers but are known to break down bad cholesterol and are loaded with calcium. This baked pear fantasy is a great finale to a fabulous Christmas dinner: a conscience-pleasing dish and a nice hot cup of tea. Pile it all into one large baking dish, create individual servings for a small group, or make mini-bites in a mini-muffin tin for a Christmas cocktail party. For a little extravagance, feel free to top your crumble with vanilla frozen yogurt or low fat vanilla ice cream when serving! Baked Pear and Walnut Crumble Crumble ingredients: 1 cup oatmeal ½ cup wholewheat digestives 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 tablespoon cinnamon ¾ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ cup butter, room temperature Pear mixture ingredients: 4 ripe pears peeled, cored and quartered 2 lemons, juiced ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon butter Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. 2. Mix crumble ingredients in a bowl, adding the butter last before combining everything with your hands. 3. In a pan, cook pear pieces in butter and brown sugar, adding vanilla extract and lemon at the end. 4. Finally, either put pear mixture in a baking dish and top with crumble, or fill mini-muffin papers with a little pear each and some crumble on top. 5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the crumble on top is browned. 6. Serve with vanilla frozen yoghurt, light vanilla ice cream or simply yoghurt mixed with honey.
