Deconstructed Pear and Cranberry Pie

Winter Break, at last!!!!! And the world did not end. Today is a pretty great day.
I finally decided to post dessert today, because honestly that is always the best part, right?
This is the lazy cute and unique alternative to pie. I used this recipe, adjusted to use 3/4 cup of flour, to make the cute little pie crust twist, sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar. They were not very good alone, but delicious crumbled on top of the compote. The compote was simply divine. A bit sour, but perfect with vanilla ice cream. Fat free ice cream, might I add. Not the healthiest, but hey, it is the holidays. We can all resolve to exercise next year : )

Pie Crust Cookies

Makes 10

Follow the recipe here but simply adjust all of the ingredients so that you use 3/4 cup flour. Seems complicated, but it is pretty simple. Just remember, these pie crust cookies are meant to be crumbled on top of a filling. The compote would be just as good without them, but these are just a little unique. Not the tastiest, but definitely unique.

Compote
Serves 6
3 cups fresh cranberries
2 red pears, diced
1/2 cup water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2-3 cloves, ground
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (trust me on this one)
2-3 tbsp brown sugar, packed (put more if you have a sweet tooth)
1 tbsp gresh orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla

1. Add the cranberries, pear chunks, all of the ground spices, and water to a fairly large pot (you need room to stir). Cook covered for 5-10 minutes, until pears are soft but not falling apart and cranberries have burst, releasing a lot of sticky pectin.
2. Stir in the vanilla, orange juice, orange zest, and balsamic. Cook without a lid for 2 minutes to let some of the water out, if there is any excess liquid left.
3. Enjoy!

So much easier than a pie. And in my opinion, so much better.