With the holidays upon us, Food & Nutrition’s recipe developers cooked up a beautiful spread of secretly nutritious snacks, sweets and mocktails that are sure to entertain guests! Find our other “Festive Fete” recipes here.
Servings: 7
Serving size: ½ cup
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pear, thinly sliced
- 2 cups (480 milliliters) apple cider
- ½ cup sliced fresh ginger
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 cloves
- 2½ cups (590 milliliters) pear juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F (93°C).
- Arrange pear slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the oven to dry for 1½ to 2 hours, checking on them every 30 minutes. Alternatively, use store-bought dried pears for garnish.
- Place apple cider, ginger, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook until syrupy and reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
- Strain out solids, then place apple syrup into a serving pitcher. Add pear juice and stir.
- Shake with ice and pour into glasses.
- Garnish each glass with a dried pear slice and serve.
Cooking note: To make this recipe with alcohol, add ½ cup bourbon in place of ½ cup pear juice.
Nutrition per serving (without alcohol): CALORIES 96; TOTAL FAT 0g; SAT. FAT 0g; CHOL. 0mg; SODIUM 12mg; CARB. 24g; FIBER 1g; SUGARS 19g; PROTEIN 0g; POTASSIUM N/A; PHOSPHORUS N/A Note: Strained ingredients not included in analysis.
Nutrition per serving (with alcohol): CALORIES 124; TOTAL FAT 0g; SAT. FAT 0g; CHOL. 0mg; SODIUM 11mg; CARB. 22g; FIBER 1g; SUGARS 17g; PROTEIN 0g; POTASSIUM N/A; PHOSPHORUS N/A
Alexandra Caspero, MA, RD, CLT, is a registered dietitian and nutrition expert with a passion for health and wellness. Alex is a nationally recognized nutritionist and appears regularly on TV, print and social media. She was most recently featured in Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Fitness, Shape Magazine & Vogue. As the campus dietitian, director of wellness and adjunct instructor at University of the Pacific, Alex teaches what she preaches. Through innovative programs and services, Alex inspires students to become their healthiest selves. Her blog, DelishKnowledge, focuses on making whole-food eating deliciously simple. Alex also dishes out delicious tips to her thousands of social media followers.
