Harvest Pear Crisp

Harvest Pear Crisp

I made a Harvest Pear Crisp today and it was sooo heavenly. I love any dessert recipe that has the word "crisp" in it. Sugar, flour, oats and butter are truly the only ingredients needed to create this magically addicting crisp topping. But sometimes I like to kick things up a notch, like with this recipe, so I added old fashioned oats, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yum! Any fruit can be used when making a crisp…apples, blueberries, strawberry rhubarb, peach, the list goes on.  I used bosc pears because it's in season and I had some from my CSA share.

I titled this recipe "Harvest" Pear Crisp because these were the freshest picked pears I could possibly get my hands on since they were harvested at a local farm. Blackman Homestead Farm located in Lockport, NY. is where my pears were born. I selected pears from the share this week because they looked gorgeous. I think pears, bosc variety in particular, are such beautiful elegant looking fruit…like little pieces of art work. I immediately thought of poaching them in red wine, because that's what those beauties deserved but unfortunately I didn't have the time. So I decided on a crisp instead. Trust me, my pears were thanking me for it. Making a crisp is so easy and it can be thrown together in no time. To make things even easier I simply peeled the pears, halved and cored them. Halving them, rather than dicing or slicing, made them not only easier but prettier, especially when they were done being baked….heck that was the least I could do for these beauties!

When I pulled my Harvest Pear Crisp out of the oven the boys ran to the kitchen to have a look. Their eyes and mouths were wide open as they stared at the beautiful fruit crisp. They kept saying how amazing the kitchen smelled and begged me to let them have a piece even though it was before dinner. How could I say "no" when I wanted a piece myself. I asked them to grab some bowls AND the vanilla ice cream. You can't make a fruit crisp without serving it with a huge scoop of ice cream. They just about screamed with excitement. The pear crisp was so hot from coming out of the oven that the ice cream began melting immediately. Every bite was melt in your mouth delicious. The boys loved the crispy buttery topping. Zachary even said that the pears were awesome but he could just have the crisp topping as a dessert. I laughed and said that I totally agreed with him! Dave declined the pear crisp because he doesn't like dessert…crazy I know…but I think he would have liked this one because it's not too sweet. This is a wonderful fall dessert to make if you are hosting a dinner party….it's simple to make and will make a lasting impression on your guests. Serve it in pretty little ice cream bowls or even in a martini glass to make it extra elegant. And pairing this dessert with a glass of ice wine would be a perfect compliment!

Salute to enjoying a warm Harvest Pear Crisp served with vanilla ice cream on a beautiful fall day with my family!

Warm pear crisp topped with vanilla ice cream

Just out of the oven…the crisp topping is incredibly buttery, sweet and crunchy!

Bosc Pears from Blackman Homestead Farm, Lockport NY

Beautiful and elegant looking pears

Peel, halve and core seeds. The pears will be a little slippery.

They look just as pretty halved.
I didn't want to take the stems  off.

Generously butter a pie or quiche plate and lay pears evenly, sprinkle with a little white sugar

Mix the flour, sugar, butter, oats and cinnamon with a fork or your fingers until it forms a crumble

Fill the cores with a large mixture of butter crumble 

Spread butter crumble over the top

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes until golden brown and
pears are  tender

Elegant enough to serve at a dinner party

Serve warm and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to complete this fall comfort dessert!

Harvest Pear Crisp

Serves 6

Preparation and cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 pears, peeled, halved and cored (I used bosc)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old fashioned quick cooking oats
• 1 stick cold salted butter, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a round pie plate. Place pear halves on buttered pie plate and sprinkle with a little white sugar, set aside. In a large bowl mix flour, white sugar, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon with butter. Use a fork to integrate the butter into flour sugar mixture until it forms a crumbly mixture. Place a large piece of crumble in the core of each pear. Next place all of crumble mixture over top of pears. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and bubbly and pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Keep refrigerated and reheat in microwave for 45 seconds.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "Oh my gosh, this is sooo good. I am so glad my cough is ending so I can taste this yummy dessert." Nate is getting over a nasty cold so I am happy he is feeling better:)

Tyler: "Yummmm, this is so good warm. Can I have seconds?"

Zachary: "Oooooh, I really like pears in this dessert, but I think I like the crisp topping more. Can I have seconds?"

Dave: Didn't have any pear crisp but he did have a pear and loved it…said it was incredible fresh tasting.

Andrea: I'm glad Dave doesn't like dessert because it means more for me. I had his share and more!