Gluten-Free Pear Cranberry Crisp
There's nothing like the perfect bite of warm fruit crisp. It's juicy, crunchy, and slightly tart. I've made probably thousands of fruit crisps as a pastry chef and I'm letting you in on my best-kept secrets with this gluten free pear dessert.
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Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
For The Filling
- 3 pounds pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 12 ounces (3 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed or vegan butter for dairy-free version
For The Topping
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup rolled oats, certified gluten-free if necessary
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed or vegan butter to make dairy-free
For Serving
- salted caramel sauce, optional
- vanilla ice cream, optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F and arrange rack in the middle. Combine pears, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, orange zest and juice, and ginger in a large bowl and toss until fruit is well coated. Pour fruit into a 2-quart baking dish. Dot the top with the 4 tablespoons of butter cut into small pieces.
- Combine almond flour, oats, brown sugar, walnuts, salt, and cinnamon in a separate medium bowl and stir until sugar is broken up and everything is incorporated. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until the mixture sticks to itself when squeezed.
- Pick up handfuls of the oat mixture and squeeze together to create a clump. Then break-up the clump over the fruit so you get good-sized pieces of topping. Repeat until all topping is used and fruit is covered.
- Place baking dish on a parchment-lined baking sheet to catch drips. Bake until topping is dark golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 40 to 45 minutes.
- Let crisp cool at least 15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce, for some extra indulgence.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked and cooled crisp freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake (covered) in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes or until heated through. You can prepare the crisp through step 3, then cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day before baking. You can also freeze the unbaked crisp for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 4. Bake time will be a little longer since the crisp will be cold.
- Pears: See blog post above for the best pears to use. It is important that the pears are ripe but still a bit firm. An equal mix of Bosc and D'anjou is my favorite for pear crisp.
- Gluten-free flour: If you don't want to use almond flour, substitute gluten-free oat flour or gluten-free flour blend.
- Nuts: Feel free to substitute chopped pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts for the walnuts in the crisp topping.