I had never used pears in a recipe before so wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I saw the picture in my latest Rachel Ray magazine I had to try it.  I’m so glad I did because this dessert was delicious.

Apricot-Glazed Pear

• 1/2 c. apricot preserves
• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 4 pears (peeled, halved, and cored)
• vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, combine the apricot preserves and orange juice.
2. Place the pears cut down in an ovenproof dish. Top with the apricot mixture and bake until softened, 25-35 minutes. (Mine needed longer to soften). Let cool for additional 20 minutes.
3. Place a scoop of ice cream (no more than a 1/2 c. or the points will increase) in each pear half; drizzle the sauce from the baking dish over the ice cream and sprinkle with a pinch of cinnamon.
4. If you want to impress feel free to garnish with a cinnamon stick!

**I do want to mention that after cooking the pears for 35 minutes they were still pretty hard. To speed things up I put them in the microwave for a few minutes. It worked! I am assuming it was because my pears weren’t quite ripe enough.