Sugar Free Pear and Date Turnovers for all the Family

Some of my recipes are driven by necessity.  There were some pears stubbornly refusing to ripen, some dates at their use by date, why not combine them?  Why not indeed?  It turned out to be a magic combination that I'll definitely repeat.  Delicious warm but fantastic cold on our picnic in the park.

I made far too much filling so feel free to reduce the quantities or freeze and make a lovely crumble or pie.

Pear and Date Turnovers - makes 6 with extra filling

Ingredients

3 Pears
75g Dates
100ml Apple juice
Ready made, ready rolled puff pastry, I only used part of a pack
1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)
1 tsp icing sugar (optional)
1 tbsp milk

Method

Peel the pears, core them and cut into small pieces.  Chop the dates into small pieces and put into a saucepan with the juice.  Heat until the dates go mushy and the pears are softened.

Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F

Cut six 10cm (4 inch) squares (or more if liked, there will be plenty of filling).  Put a piece of non stick baking paper on a baking sheet and put the pieces of pastry on top.  Add a large teaspoon of filling in one corner of each square, then fold over to make a triangle and press the edges together.

Add a couple of cuts to each turnover then brush with milk.  If liked, add a tiny sprinkle of sugar to the top of each one.

Bake for 10-15 mins (12 in my oven) or until well puffed and golden then allow to cool and serve warm rather than hot as the filling is frighteningly hot straight from the oven or serve cold.  Sprinkle with icing sugar if liked.

I put them into a large container lined with baking paper and took them to the park.  I love it when the sun shines.

Definitely a hit!

I've linked this up here.