Spiced Pear Crisp

pear crisp in gray and brown bowl with caramel sauce

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Take a bite out of Fall with this spiced pear crisp! This easy dessert is made the old-fashioned way like Grandma used to make, and is perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce drizzled over the top!

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fall dessert recipe, fruit crisp, winter dessert recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 422kcal

Author: The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

Pear filling

8 ripe but firm pears peeled, cored, and sliced
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 - 2 Tbsp lemon juice fresh is best
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Crisp topping

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats not instant
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup salted butter cold and cut into small cubes
3/4 cup chopped pecans optional but recommended

Instructions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter a 9x13" baking dish and set aside.

Make pear filling

To a large mixing bowl, add the sliced 8 ripe but firm pears, 1 Tbsp lemon zest, 1 - 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tbsp all purpose flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Stir to combine.
Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.

Make crisp topping

To another mixing bowl, add 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1/2 cup salted butter (cut into small cubes).
Use a pastry cutter to work the butter pieces into the dry ingredients, until pea-sized crumbs form. If you don't have a pastry cutter, you can use two forks (working in a criss cross motion), or your fingers.
Stir in 3/4 cup chopped pecans, and sprinkle evenly over the pear filling.

Bake

Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown, the filling is bubbling at the edges, and the pears are fork tender.

Cool and serve

This dessert can be served warm or at room temperature, but even if serving it warm, you want to let it cool for 10 minutes or so, otherwise you may burn yourself.
We prefer to serve it warm, topped with some vanilla bean ice cream, caramel sauce, or whipped cream!

Notes

I've estimated this recipe serves about 8, but feel free to divide it into as many servings as you'd like.
If you'd like to divide this recipe in half, you can bake it in an 8x8" baking pan, keeping the baking time about the same.

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