Pear and Cheese Pockets

I have a few weaknesses in life:

1) Post-holiday candy sales at CVS

2) Ice cream on sale at the market*

3) Bulk anything at Costco

*Who can blame me when it costs $7.99 / half gallon in NYC!

It must be in my blood to love Costco. My Dad is a walking advertisement for the store. He won’t make a purchase anywhere else until he knows Costco doesn’t have that particular item (that includes clothing, kitchen appliances, tools, etc.). Actually, for someone who isn’t a big shopper, the man can easily get sucked into buying almost anything there. If they sold drum sets in the store, he’d probably sleep there. So, it is no surprise that although I live in a tiny apartment with limited storage space, I insist on having a membership and grabbing whatever I can because it is such a good deal. Never mind the fact that we store toilet paper under the bed and canned chickpeas in several different cabinets. I even bought Kirkland brand Uggs this year for such a good price that I could throw them away when it warms up if I can’t find a place to keep them.

On our most recent trip to Costco we purchased so much fruit (bananas, pears, asian pears, mangos, nectarines, strawberries, and blueberries) that the husband started to get stressed out about eating it all. He clearly underestimates my daily produce consumption. To make him feel better, though, I promised to use some for baking. The berries and bananas were already gone and some of the other fruit had dwindled down, but we still had a lot of just-ripened juicy pears.

I wanted to make something tasty that could be eaten for breakfast, snacks or dessert and wouldn’t weigh you down. At the same time, I didn’t want to make it “diet-like.” These Pear and Cheese Pockets are a perfect compromise. They are somewhere in-between a danish, poptart, and toaster strudel with a combination of fresh and packaged ingredients.

I used these crescent roll sheets for the pockets and filled them with some cooked pears and a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling. They are best served fresh out of the oven when the filling is warm and gooey and the outside is crisp but soft in the middle. However, leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and re-heated via toaster.

Start by making the pear filling

Melt butter over low heat

Add brown sugar and combine

Once brown sugar and butter are melted, add pears and stir to coat

Add cinnamon to mixture and stir

Cook pears over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes; remove from heat and set aside

For cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese in a mixer until creamy

Add vanilla and greek yogurt

Once combined, stir in confectioners’ sugar

Once fillings are ready, lay out the dough

Cut each package into 8 rectangles

Stretch rectangles out on foil sprayed with cooking spray; top one side of dough with about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture

Then add a couple tablespoons of pear filling

Fold the other half of the dough over and press down around the edges to seal; take a fork and press down around the edges fancy them up

Bake for 12 –13 minutes or until top is golden brown

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Pear and Cheese Pockets

Yield: 16 pockets

Ingredients

• 3 large pears, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 8-ounce package light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons fat free greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages crescent roll dough

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
2. To make the pear filling, melt butter over low heat
3. Add brown sugar and combine; once brown sugar and butter are melted, add pears and stir to coat
4. Add cinnamon to mixture and stir
5. Cook pears over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes; remove from heat and set aside
6. For cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese on high speed until creamy
7. Add vanilla and greek yogurt and beat on high
8. Once combined, stir in confectioners’ sugar
9. Once fillings are ready, lay out the dough
10. Cut each package into 8 rectangles
11. Stretch rectangles out on foil sprayed with cooking spray; top one side of dough with about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture without coating the edges
12. Top cream cheese with about 2 tablespoons of pear filling
13. Fold the other half of the dough over and press down around the edges to seal; take a fork and press down around the to add a design
14. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until top is golden brown

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What are your shopping weaknesses?