This is a very good fruit dessert recipe to throw together, especially with apples and pears being on sale right now. The recipe makes a big batch, but once you've shared it with your babysitter and your friends, it only lasts about 36 hours in the frig. Sigh. Oh the memories.
I pretty much followed Ina Garten's Pear, Apple and Cranberry Crisp recipe. Naturally, I was missing an ingredient or two, so improvised.
HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
- 5 Gala apples
- 4 Bosc pears
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons orange juice (I used what we drink)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For the crisp topping
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans
- 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced
Heat the oven to 350ºF degrees.
Peel and core the apples and pears and cut them into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl. Toss with the cranberries, zest, juices.
Mix the next four dry ingredients together first, then pour over the apples and pears, toss again until they're evenly coated. Pour into a buttered 9 by 12 by 2 inch baking dish.
As for the topping
Use your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, pecans and cold butter. Mix until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering it completely.
If you like crunchy edges, get extra crumble into the sides and corners.
MMM, mmm!
BAKE FOR 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm or cold, both ways taste wonderful. Always better the second day.
Oh! Oh! Man! That was the best Apple Crisp I’ve ever had. It was sweet without being sugary. It was crunchy without being all up in the granola zone and it wasn’t soupy. Sometimes these crisp recipes can turn out thin on the granola and soupy below the sugar crunch, but this one was goodness all the way through.
And best of all I didn’t feel guilty at all. Not even once!
Apple crisp has always been a favorite. My brother loved it so much he taught himself to make it when he was 10 and we’d all enjoy it. Although I haven’t had it with apples & pears, I know this would be amazing — especially w/ the cranberries and raisins. Delicious!
You have an impressive brother there.
I brought this crisp to a New Year’s Eve party. It disappeared very quickly with one guest telling me he only got to lick the spoon.
I agree with Charles@Great cooks it is sweet without being sugary. I used the apples I had already purchased and added more cranberries instead of raisins. My only difficulty in preparation was roasting the pecans which I found burn very quickly if heat was too high.
This is a keeper with requests made for the recipe Thank you!
Hi Valerie!
You could never go wrong by adding more dried cranberries. I love those tart treats.
And you’re right about toasting pecans; it doesn’t take much to toast them. I tend to set my oven to 300ºF then watch and smell the rest of the way. It’s not something we can walk away from and go do something else. Thankfully, it takes only a few minutes to toast pecans.
my mother taught me to toast nuts & seeds by putting them in a hot skillet w/ a little water. of course the water sizzles away and they do toast quickly – idk why but it works for me better than trying to do it in the oven (where i burn them every time). much simpler, less stressful. the skillet require you to be completely present. but only for a minute or two;)