Cranberry Pear Brown Betty

1. In a bowl, combine bread crumbs and butter. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine pears, cranberries, stevia and lemon juice.

3. Spread one-third of the bread crumb mixture in prepared stoneware. Layer half the pear mixture over top. Repeat. Finish with a layer of crumbs and pour cranberry juice over top. Cover and cook on High for 4 hours, until fruit is tender and mixture is hot and bubbly.

Notes

1. Works best in a small (3½-quart) slow cooker.

2. To make dry bread crumbs for this recipe, toast 4 slices of whole wheat bread. Tear into pieces and process in a food processor fitted with a metal blade until finely ground.

3. Use a light whole wheat loaf for this recipe. Those with a heavy molasses content will overpower the fruit.

4. Stevia is an herb that is almost 300 times sweeter than ordinary sugar and contains virtually no calories. It is used extensively as a sweetener in Japan. If you don’t have it, use ¼ cup (50 ml) brown sugar (such as Demerara) or evaporated cane juice sugar (such as Sucanat) instead.