Apple Pear Bars Recipe

I’d love to say we always eat a healthy diet especially since my husband has high blood pressure and prediabetes. Over the summer we were derailed by the sweet train and haven’t gotten back on track. My kids enjoy fruit, especially if it is neatly packaged, diced and waiting for them. I decided to browse the canned fruit aisle at Walmart to see if I could find any quick healthy snack options.

The new Del Monte Diced Apples and Pears in extra light syrup with caramel flavor jumped out at me.  Since these are two fruity favorites, I picked it up to investigate.  The package contained four cups, each equal to one serving of fruit and only sixty calories per serving.  There’s no added high fructose corn syrup and most importantly, they are gluten free.  My daughter has a gluten allergy and  I struggle to find tasty foods that she will eat.

I spotted two more new varieties on the shelf, Diced Pears with Vanilla and Spice and some Diced Peaches with cinnamon and brown sugar.  I decided we would test taste them all and determine which flavor was our favorite.

Our test tasting was a success. We enjoyed all of the flavors and each of us picked our own personal favorite.  Mine was the Diced Apples and Pears. I love almost anything that has a hint of caramel added.  The kids went with the Diced Pears and my husband went with the Diced Peaches.  None of those favorites came as a surprise to me as we all gravitated to the fruit or flavor we normally liked best.
I’ve thought of lots of fun lunch ideas for the kids that can include the Del Monte fruit cups.  Ants on a log made with celery and raisins along with finger sandwiches.  Bento boxes with different types of finger foods and a fruit cup.  The ideas are endless.   My poor husband is not so fortunate. He’ll have to continue to eat his whole wheat sandwiches, cottage cheese and yogurt.  At least he’ll have a fruit cup to look forward to at the end of the meal.

After tasting the fruit cups, I was inspired to create a tempting treat; Apple-Pear bars.  These taste delicious warm but I preferred them after they had cooled and set for several hours. I think they are a great snack but they can be adapted into desert bars also. Here’s what you need to create a batch for your family.

Ingredients:
For Apple-Pear Bars:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 ¼ cups quick cooking oatmeal

½ cup butter, softened

4  Del Monte diced apple and pear fruit cups in caramel syrup, with liquid drained and reserved

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)

For Glaze: (optional)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons reserved apple pear liquid

Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and oatmeal together. Add the softened butter and stir until the mixture is crumbly. In a 9″ by 13″ baking dish, spread 1/2 of the crumb mixture and pat down. Cover the diced pear and apple cups. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top of the pears and apples. If you want to make desert bars instead of snack bars, sprinkle with the apples and pears with the tablespoon of sugar before adding the crumb topping.
Bake in a  preheated 350 degree over for approximately fifteen minutes.  I made an optional glaze to show how they can be transformed into desert bars.  Believe me, they taste as good without the glaze as they do with it added to the top. To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar and reserved juice to the desired consistency and drizzle over the bars.

\My son requested I make these again using the new Diced Pear with vanilla and spice fruit cups. “I like the pears better,” he informed me.  “They’re my favorites.” Y

22 Comments

  1. Nice recipe. I’ll have to try it for my kids.

  2. What yummy bars! I love anything with oatmeal in it!

  3. Those bars sound yummy! I need to start buying those cups for my daughter’s lunch.

  4. This looks like a good recipe. I would try it because I like pears and this sounds healthy.

  5. Ooh! I haven’t seen this variety before, but the caramel definitely caught my attention! The family already loves Del Monte fruit cups but seasonal flavor combos make them even more appealing 🙂

  6. Fruit cups are my favorite for a sweet snack!

  7. Love these fruit cups.

  8. I’ve tried these, they are really good.

  9. YUMMMM.. thanks for sharing this awesome recipe; I would have never thought about using DelMonte Fruit cups in my dessert..YUMMM…

  10. pears are my fave- a is very smart!! i like easy to make things like this!

  11. Mm, everything looks so yummy!

  12. Those look delicious and so easy too. I’ll have to try it sometime. I’m sure my kids would love it.

  13. I love keeping things like this on hands for quick and easy snacking.

  14. That looks great! I want to try it with pears. I think my kids would like this!

  15. Those bars look so yummy! I would have never thought to bake with the cups! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  16. Our fruit cups never last long enough for me to use them in a recipe! These look yum though.

  17. I noticed those last time I was in the store and was tempted but didn’t get them. I regret it now, especially since you suggested baking with them!

  18. Oh my goodness, that looks nummy! I added these to my shopping list. Really want to try the apples and pears with caramel.

  19. Mmmm. I’m always on the hunt for easy to make desserts. Looking forward to trying this.

  20. These fruit cups are a new family favorite.

  21. I have been searching for these with the peaches in strawberry syrup. I found them once now can’t again and my grandson loves them. Not too much fruit he enjoys.
    This recipe looks fabulous. I like pears too, just like your son.