Easy and Cozy Pear Crisp

Apple crisp isn’t the only cozy fall dessert to love! Lightly spiced pears and a coconut and walnut topping make a delicious pear crisp. Free of refined sugar, gluten, and grains, and also GAPS compliant.

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Who doesn’t love a good dessert? While dessert can be indulgent, or even a “cheat”, Easy and Cozy Pear Crisp is one way to have a healthful dessert that everyone will love. No refined sugar needed!

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That lack of need for (much) sugar is one of the great benefits of fruit desserts such as crisps, crumbles, cobblers, etc. Many recipes for such treats do call for hefty amounts of sugar, but they really don’t need it. The more you accustom your taste to less sweetener, the less you will want it. In fact, our family has found that we prefer desserts like fruit crisps with very little sugar so that the flavors of the fruit, topping ingredients, and any spices shine. The fruit itself and a bit of honey or coconut sugar are wonderfully sweet.

While your don’t strictly need to add any topping to this healthful dessert, I like to add something. It makes it feel more satisfying and rich, perhaps. Depending on what you add, it may add some health benefits as well. Whipped cream or ice cream are obvious choices. Further options, depending on your dietary needs, preferences, and what you have on hand, might be whipped cultured cream (great benefits for GAPSters), whipped coconut milk, yogurt or kefir, or even a little plain milk or cream. On a fancy day, you could even make a custard sauce.

How to Make It

Peel and chop 4-6 firm pears. Much as we love Bartlett pears, I prefer Bosc or d’Anjou pears for this. They hold up better in the oven. Either slices or bite-sized pieces will work fine. Distribute evenly in an 8″ square pan.

Mix in ground ginger and cardamom. Or play around with other spices you like!

Cut butter into coconut sugar (or use honey) and coconut flour, then add shredded coconut and chopped walnuts. Sprinkle this mixture over the pears.

Bake 30 minutes at 350° F. Remove when pears are bubbling and topping is browned. Cool slightly before topping.

Make Easy and Cozy Pear Crisp Your Way

• Change the spices. I do it differently each time, though I do really like the combination of cardamom and ginger with pears. A little bit of each goes a long way! Other spices that taste good with pears are cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Just one or a combination. Premixed pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice from the store would do nicely as well.
• Double it. The five of us finish this in one meal, so I like to double it in a 9×13″ pan.
• Try a combination of pear varieties, or even use part pear and part apple. This is a very flexible sort of recipe.
• Use different nuts (pecans are good with pears) or replace the nuts with seeds, like sunflower or pumpkin.
• If you aren’t keeping your sugar down, you can certainly use a bit more. I like it better with less at this point, but if I plan to serve it to people who are accustomed to a more standard diet, I use a bit more.

Looking for more healthy fruit crisp recipes? I have more!

Pear Raspberry Crisp

Classic Apple Crisp

Gingerbread Apple Pear Crisp