Serve a batch of warm pear crisp with a little ice cream and it is sure to be a hit. Pear crisp is one of those great seasonal desserts!
Everyone loves apple crisp. But have you tried pear crisp? Juicy pears make a delicious alternative to apples as the fruity layer under the sweet crunchy topping. Give pears a try this fall. You’ll love it.
This recipe makes 8 – 10 servings.
Tips
- Serve the crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Caramel ice cream would also be delicious.
- You can substitute chopped pecans for the walnuts.
- You can use any pears that you want, but be sure that the pears are not overly ripe to avoid them getting too mushy. I used Bartlett pears.
- My baking dish was oval. Use any baking dish that holds 2 quarts.
- I like to put the baking dish on a wide baking sheet in the oven to avoid any spillage.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients to make this pear crisp.
Topping Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Pear Filling Ingredients
- 6 large pears, ripe but firm
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Directions
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly butter a 2-quart baking dish and set it aside.
Make the topping. If the butter isn’t already melted, melt it now.
Using a fork, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Make sure that there are no lumps of sugar. You can easily mash the lumps with the fork or your fingers. Mix in the oats. Add the butter and mix everything thoroughly. Stir in the walnuts.
Put the topping in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, allowing it to cool and small clumps to form.
Make the crisp filling. In a medium mixing bowl, add the brown sugar and flour. As with the topping, stir it together and make sure there are no lumps of sugar. Add the cinnamon and cardamom.
Peel the pears and quarter them. Using a sharp knife, remove the stem and and stringy bits near the stem end. Remove the seeds and the blossom end. Cut each quarter down the middle then into bite-size chunks. Add the pieces to a large bowl. When finished, gently stir the vanilla into the pears.
Add the brown sugar and flour mixture to the bowl of pears. Gently toss everything together to coat all of the pear pieces.
Spoon the pear mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spoon the topping over the pears.
Bake the crisp in the oven for about 30 minutes, then turn the oven up to 375 degrees and bake the crisp until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown (about 20 minutes). Keep an eye on the top of the crisp during the final baking. If the topping looks like it is darkening, loosely cover the crisp with foil.
Cool the crisp on a wire rack for 30 – 45 minutes before serving.
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