Pear Crisp for Recipe Friday

One of my favorite fall desserts is Pear Crisp. We used to have a Bosc pear tree with the best pears and so I would make crisp every year. One year we had over 100 pears from this one tree. Unfortunately, fruit trees don’t last forever and this year we didn’t get a single pear from this old tree. The leaves were also looking kind of diseased and so we took it out and have replaced it with maple trees. So this year, if I want to make Pear Crisp, I will have to buy some Bosc pears.

One thing I love about this dessert is that it is kind of healthy because of the pears. But it is also very easy to make. I think I’m going to make it for Thanksgiving dessert this year.

Pear Crisp

Ingredients:

6 large Bosc pears
1 tsp lemon juice
¼ cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp corn starch
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp dried orange peel
6 packets instant oatmeal
½ cup butter
¼ cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Spray the bottom and sides of a 13″ x 9″ baking pan with cooking spray. Peel and core pears, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Toss in a large bowl with lemon juice to keep the pears from turning brown. Add blueberries, corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, and dried orange peel, and stir to combine. Turn out into baking pan.

For crisp topping: Allow butter to soften to room temperature. In a medium bowl, combine softened butter and instant oatmeal packets to a crumbly consistency. (Any flavor of oatmeal will work, but my favorite is Apples & Cinnamon). Stir in nuts, if desired. Spoon oatmeal mixture over the top of the pear mixture. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until fruit is fork-tender and topping is golden brown. Serve warm (with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired).