Caramelized Pear Cookies

We KNOW you’ve tried Apple Pie.  It’s an international favorite!  We thought we would try using pears – and WOW, what a hit these were!  We made them for our child’s t-ball team and they were GONE in minutes.  Make these for any reason and people will wonder how you became such a culinary genius!

Ingredients:
5 pears
1 package refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
6 oz caramel syrup or sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
ground cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Coat a cookie sheet with non stick spray; set aside. Remove pie crusts from refrigerator and let warm closer to room temperature. Peel skins from pears and discard. Continue peeling all pears in this fashion. Dust work area with flour or confectioners sugar and slightly roll out crusts. From pie crusts, cut out circles for the cookies. Use remaining crust pieces to cut strips that will be used for finishing off the cookies. Place pie crust rounds on cookie sheet. Spread a thin layer of caramel sauce on each cookie, followed by a pile of pear peels. Using the strips, create hashtag pattern over each cookie. Beat egg in bowl, then add sugar and nutmeg until mixed well. Brush cookies with egg wash. Sprinkle cookies with desired amount of cinnamon. (Optional: sprinkle confectioners sugar.) Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown.   Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Enjoy!