Pear Week ~ Slow Cooker Pear Sauce

I hope you're enjoying Pear Week so far - did you check out the Maple Pecan Pear Muffins I posted yesterday?  Today I'll share the main recipes that worked for me to use up a large number of pears at once.

My hubs and I have been trying not to eat sugar recently (OK, well except for every single recipe here this week that I *had* to sample) so I knew I wanted to make pear sauce without added sugar.  These pears were so sweet and juicy that I figured it wouldn't be a problem to leave the sugar out - I was right!

So many pears! I sprinkled cinnamon over a couple layers before cooking.

I have made apple sauce in the slow cooker in the past, so I knew I could do pear sauce the same way.  I filled that slow cooker up FULL 3 times!  I found that about 4 hours on low was enough time to get the pears to the point where I could either mash them with a potato masher and fork (to leave a little chunky) or puree with my stick blender right in the slow cooker.

Chunky Pear Sauce with cinnamon and nutmeg - yum!

Pureed Pear Sauce with cinnamon - very rich!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Pear Sauce {no sugar added}

Enough ripe Bartlett pears, cut in half, cored and peeled, to fill slow cooker
Cinnamon to taste
Nutmeg to taste (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 cup All natural apple cider (no sugar added) or other liquid

Fill slow cooker with pears.  Sprinkle cinnamon over layers as you put them in.  Add desired liquid.  Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Mash or puree pears.  Stir in more cinnamon if needed and nutmeg if desired.  Cool and refrigerate.

Chunky Pear Sauce with a hint of maple and almond.

Slow Cooker Maple Almond Pear Sauce

Enough ripe Bartlett pears, cut in half, cored and peeled, to fill slow cooker
3 tablespoons+ pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon + almond extract

Fill slow cooker with pears.  Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Mash or puree pears.  Stir in maple syrup and almond extract.  I was trying to keep it low-sugar and not overpower the flavor of the pears, so I only used enough to give a hint of flavor.  Feel free to use much larger quantities of maple syrup and almond extract if desired!  Cool and refrigerate.

I put the extra sauce into containers and froze it.  Though the sauce is delicious on its own, it would be a delicious topping for pancakes and waffles too.  Or maybe even over ice cream or mixed with yogurt or in a smoothie - so many yummy options!

Have you ever made pear or apple sauce in your slow cooker?  Do you consider it a side dish, a snack or a dessert?

Thanks for stopping by Pear Week!  Come on back tomorrow for some cake!

This post linked to:
~ Works-For-Me-Wednesday (WFMW) at We Are THAT Family
~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom

Have a fabulous day friends!