Gingersnap Caramel Pear Parfaits Recipes

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°., Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edge is light golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake until bottom is golden brown, 3-6 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 350°., For topping, in a food processor, combine crushed cookies, flour, brown sugar and salt. Add butter; pulse until crumbly., For filling, in a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, ginger and salt. Add pears, lemon juice and vanilla; toss gently to combine. Transfer to crust; cover with topping., Place pie on a baking sheet; bake until topping is lightly browned and pears are tender, 60-70 minutes. Cover pie loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour before serving. If desired, drizzle with caramel topping.

Steps:

• Microwave 10 ounces unwrapped soft caramels with 1 tablespoon half-and-half, stirring every 20 seconds, until smooth. Pour into a wide mug, then quickly dip 4 pears in the caramel, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and let set on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients. With clean hands, work butter into oat mixture until well combined. Refrigerate for 15 minutes., Place pears in a small bowl; add flour and toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 8-in. square baking dish; sprinkle with oat mixture. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is tender. Serve warm, with ice cream if desired.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add pears, one cut side down, and cook until browned, then reduce heat to medium and cook 3 minutes. Turn pears to other cut side and cook 4 minutes. Add sugar and 1 tablespoon water, swirling pan to combine. Turn pears skin side down and cook until sauce is thickened slightly, 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla and pinch of salt. Serve warm with ice cream.

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 400 degrees. Melt butter in a 9-by-13-inch pan in the preheating oven until nutty golden. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter in the pan, then place pears, cut sides down, over sugar. Bake until pears are tender when poked with a sharp knife and sauce is thick and caramel colored, about 40 minutes. Remove pears from sauce to a plate with a slotted spoon. Pour sauce in a measuring cup. (You should have about 1 cup of sauce. If not, simmer to reduce, or add water to equal 1 cup.) Cool pears and sauce to room temperature. (At this point, you can remove skin from the pears with a knife, if you want.) Cut each pear half into 8 chunks. When ready to assemble, whip cream into soft peaks, gradually adding sugar. Beat in 2 Tbs. of brandy. Set aside. Place 24 gingersnaps on a cookie sheet and lightly brush with some of the brandy. Work quickly; the cookies will soften in places, making them difficult to transfer. Arrange 3 cookies in each of 8 goblets. Drizzle each with some of the caramel sauce (about 1/3 cup total), a dollop of whipped cream and 4 pieces of pear. Lightly brush remaining 16 cookies with brandy and repeat layering with 2 cookies, 1/3 cup caramel sauce, whipped cream and 4 pieces of pear. Drizzle with remaining 1/3 cup caramel sauce, and cover each goblet with plastic wrap. Refrigerate parfaits and remaining whipped cream until serving time. To serve, garnish each goblet with a dollop of whipped cream and top with a couple slivers of candied ginger.