Shari's Apple Pear Whole Grain Crisp
It’s autumn where I live, and fresh, delicious pears and apples are abundant! I created this relatively healthy dessert using only whole grains and whole grain flour.
I’m also sharing with you my personal spice mix. Enjoy!
Main Ingredients
- 4 medium/large ripe pears, peeled and sliced fairly thin
- 4 medium/large apples, peeled and sliced fairly thin
- 1/2 cup maple sugar or brown sugar (either kind)
- 1/4 cup (30 g) whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoons warm spices – I use my own mixture of ground cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg (recipe below), but you can use just cinnamon or whichever ones you like.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60 g) whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup (24g) almond meal
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or Shari’s pie spice
- 1/2 cup (1 stick; 115g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 cup (80g) old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
- ½ cup (65g) chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl, then spread into the baking pan.
- Make the topping: Place flour, spices and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times. Cut in the butter by pulsing until no big chunks remain. Add oats and pecans, and pulse 3-5 times, trying not to get the whole mixture too chopped up.
- Alternatively, whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture becomes very crumbly. Stir in the oats and pecans, and mix well.
- Sprinkle topping over filling. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 40 minutes more, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling around the edges. Check 20 minutes into the uncovered baking to make sure it’s not getting too brown. If it does, cover again with foil, but not tightly. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool a bit before serving. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.
- Keeps for up to 5 days, if it lasts that long.
Note: you can substitute all purpose flour or gluten-free flour for the whole wheat
Shari's Pie Spice Mix
Ingredients
- 3T. ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ T. ground ginger
- 2 t. ground nutmeg
- 2 t. ground allspice
- 1 t. ground cardamom
It’s best if you grind the spices yourself before mixing, but works well if you use spices you bought ground, too.
