baked pear recipe

my fiancee is allergic to apples.
devastating news to someone in love with the apple tree and all things born from it.
that is, until we started experimenting with pears.
most recipes that call for apples can be substituted with pears with little difficulty, sometimes (as in the case of the baked apple recipe) with an even more fantastically delicious result.
this recipe is so quick, cheap, simple and versatile you can use it to make just one pear or twenty.
most of the stuff you'll need you probably already have in your cupboard.
plus, they only take about 10 minutes to make!
so...here we go:

baked pears

what you'll need:
*bowl for mixing ingredients
*baking pan (or oven safe bowl for just a pear or 2)
*quick outs (instant oatmeal)
*pear (try out different types, i've found i like mine a little less firm. they bake up all mushy and delectable)
*dried berries (i like currents best, but blueberries are super yummy, and raisins or cranberries always work)
*butter (softened)
*brown sugar
*maple syrup
*cinnamon

action time!:
preheat oven to about 300
while oven heats, cut top off of pear and core it. a grapefruit spoon works well, but a teaspoon or knife will work depending on the firmness of the pear.

in bowl, mix all the other ingredients in an amount coinciding to the size of your pear or pears you are making, and how you like your stuff. (i go easy on the berries. i also like my stuffing a little sweeter, so extra maple for me.)

mix until slightly moist and sticky, until it can easily hold together in a ball.

stuff that pear!
sprinkle a little extra brown sugar on top for a crunch coating of yum.

bake until the pears skin start to split a little. (or until the pear is soft, if you want it to look perfect...and want to be poking it every 5 minutes, which i think is dumb. plus, i get distracted and forget the pears until i smell that fantastic smell to remind me "oh, shit! you've got goodies in the oven!")
it should take about 7 minutes or so i'm guessing. but, honestly, i've never timed it. (see "distracted" above)

take em out of the oven, let them sit a minute (they will be nuclear. no matter how good they smell, don't ruin the experience by scalding off your taste buds and digging in too soon. trust me)

you're done.
i told you. easy.