Perry Pie

What's a perry pie? Pear-cherry pie, of course! And it's pretty amazing.



I love, love fruit. My husband loves, loves pie.

But my problem with most pies and pie recipes is that they taste just like sugar and never the fruit that is supposed to be in them! So, I tried to make a healthy, yummy, actually-fruity pie.. and it worked!

I know you'll be shocked to hear that many of my experiments fail. < wink > So, when this one worked, I was ecstatic.

INGREDIENTS

1 c oats, ground in food processor
1 bag sweet cherries (if frozen, thawed)
3 pears, ripe and sliced
1/4 c real maple syrup
2 frozen pie crusts (for top and bottom)

Follow directions on pie crust. Thaw top crust, slice. Mine was pretty broken up from being moved in the freezer that I sliced it and just put the tiny bits all over the tip, as you can see in the photo. Don't worry, it still tastes great!

I used frozen cherries so I actually heated them on low in a pot. I added the 1/4 cup maple syrup to the cherries. There will be watery cherry juice in the pot now. This is where the oats come in!

I blended the oats in the food processor until they were not quite flour but were pretty close. Add this to the cherry and juices. Mix well. This should soak up most, if not all, of the cherry juice.

Slice the ripe pears thinly. Layer two pears in the pie crust. Now you'll have a layer of the cherry/oat. Spread around the entire pie. Now layer the last pear on the top.

Add your pie crust on top. Cook 30 minutes at 375. If brown enough, cover with foil and cook another 20-25.

Voila!

This pie is incredibly fruity and just sweet enough.

Alternative:

If you're feeding people used to sugar-rific store-bought or canned pies, try adding more sugar or maple syrup to the pie at first. The more you make them, the less sugar you can use. But I absolutely love it with just the 1/4 cup of maple syrup added. Even Tyler, who loves cherry pie filling in a can, loved this pie.

Enjoy!