Tasty Treat Thursday: Pear and Cherry Buckle

I know. I said in my last post that I might get away from posting recipes for a while. And I wasn't lying when I said I had a lot on my mind, much of which I was looking forward to hashing out via posts on this blog.

But you can't escape who you are.

And I love to cook. Even more so, I LOVE to bake. My friend, Linzee, just left my house. Like 15 minutes ago. On her way out, she noticed the concoction I had been baking in my slow cooker. Her comment? "If I lived here I would be SO fat."

It's true. I bake a lot.

Don't get me wrong: I attempt to have a healthy eating lifestyle. Granted, some of that has been thrown out the window since becoming pregnant 4 months ago. Nausea and altered appetites means you eat what your body will LET you eat. And for the most part, my body has been pretty particular, and not particularly healthy.

I digress.

So let me rewind. Last week, I was watching The Food Network, and happened to catch some of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee. Sandy said 2 things that stole my heart immediately: "dessert" and "slow cooker." And then she proceeded to throw a bunch of awesome things into her Crockpot, which turned into what I could only imagine was the most delicious dessert ever.

I had to make it for myself.

And I did. Today. And I just ate some about 10 minutes ago. And it was amazing. So I had to immediately post about it and share it with you. Because that's how much you mean to me.

I did make some adjustments, according to my tastes and what was in my pantry. I'll post Sandra's original recipe, and make notes after on what I changed. Either way you go, it will be scrumptious. Yum.

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

Tasty Treat Thursday

Sandra Lee's Pear and Cherry Buckle

• 1 (26-ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 2 (15-ounce) cans diced pears in syrup
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 (1.19-ounce) packet maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• Whipped topping, for serving

Spray a 5-quart slow cooker with butter-flavored cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine pie filling, pears, and almond extract. Pour into prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle cake mix over fruit mixture. Dot with butter. In a small bowl, combine oatmeal packet and almonds. Sprinkle over cake mixture.

Place 8 paper towels over slow cooker bowl and secure with lid. (This helps to trap steam.) Cook on LOW setting for 4 to 6 hours. Do not lift lid to check cake for the first 3 hours.

Serve warm with whipped topping.

Steph's Notes:

1) I'm not really into pears. So I switched them out for 2 cans of peaches. And I'm not really into fruit preserved in syrup. So I got 2 cans of peaches preserved in pear juice instead.

2) Since I was using peaches, I decided to use a packet of "Peaches and Cream" instead Maple flavored oatmeal. The Peaches and Cream I had in my pantry was lower sugar, which I promise did not affect the recipe negatively.

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

So there you have it. An A-MAH-ZING dessert recipe. That you can make in your slow cooker, none the less. Does it get any better than that?! Since it can be made in a slow cooker, this makes for a very flexible dish: Make it in the summer as the finale to your BBQ, since it doesn't require you to use your oven and heat your kitchen up. Or make it in the Autumn or Winter, when the air is crisp, and you need a tasty dessert to warm you up!

And I would encourage you to experiment. Since my peach and oatmeal substitute worked out well, there might be even more fruit/pie filling/oatmeal combinations that are equally divine.

As always, I would love to hear how this turns out for you (especially if you get adventurous and come up with another tasty combination!), so leave a comment below.

Do you have a Tasty Treat recipe to share with the rest of the community? Send me an email: moderndaydonnareed@gmail.com.

Happy Eating!

.