When friends sent us a dozen Harry & David Bosc Pears for Christmas, I used several of them right away in two of my favorite salads: Pear Date Salad and Pear Blueberry Salad. That still left enough to make pear crisp for dessert three times over the next two weeks. Each time I tweaked an old recipe a little bit until I came up with this one.  I had some Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries on hand that needed to be used up. I loved the combination of flavors and textures.  Craisins® with 50% less sugar tasted just as good as the original, and they eased my conscience a bit about enjoying this sweet dessert. Now pear cranberry crisp is my favorite pear dessert.

When friends told me they couldn’t eat rolled oats, I found quinoa flakes can be used as a substitute. It was tasty! Although I admit a slight preference for the texture of rolled oats, I’ll make it with quinoa flakes again since I had to buy a pound and only used ¼ cup.  If you want to try quinoa flakes, I’d be happy to share mine.

The last time I made it, I forgotten I used all of the vanilla on the previous batch. No problem! I substituted Grand Gala Orange Liqueur. I don’t know if it was the cranberries or the orange liqueur, but the last one was everyone’s favorite. 😋

Active time: 15 minutes                 Total time: 1 hour

Specialized One-Butt Kitchen Utensils

• You’ll need either a medium-sized Casserole Dish (about 2 quarts) or a 8-Inch Square Baking Pan.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 3 large or 4 small pears, peeled and sliced (around 3½ to 4 cups)
• ¼ cup dried cranberries (I used Craisins®, both original and 50% less sugar)
• ½ tsp vanilla or almond extract (or 1 tsp orange liqueur or other tasty liquid)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch ground nutmeg
• pinch salt

Topping:

• 4 tbsp (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup flour, gluten-free or regular
• ¼ cup old fashioned rolled oats (or quinoa flakes)
• ¼ brown sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup pecan or walnut pieces
• pinch salt

Serve with:

• vanilla ice cream, whipping cream or caramel sauce, optional

Directions:

Preheat conventional oven to 350 degrees. Spray casserole dish with cooking spray.

Place peeled pear slices, vanilla (or orange liqueur), cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish.

In the bowl you just used, mix the butter, flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, sugar, nuts and salt. Use your fingers to sprinkle the topping evenly over the pear mixture.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the topping is crisp and the filling is bubbly.

Serve pear cranberry crisp warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or caramel sauce.