Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp

This Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp is a must make this holiday season! Gluten-free and perfectly sweetened, you won’t be able to resist going back for a second helping!

We’re down to the final days before the big feast! I’m sure I’ve said this before, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love that it not only revolves around two of my favorite things, cooking and food, but that it’s not commercialized and shoved in your face the way Christmas is. There’s no stress around gift giving and if you’re spending enough or too much money on every person you know. Instead it’s just about being together and being thankful for what you have.

Before you start your final Thanksgiving preparations, I wanted to share the recipe for this easy and delicious, Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp. Originally it was just going to be an apple crisp, but there’s so many recipes out there for that and I wanted to make mine a little different. What better way than to combine all the classics into one dessert!

I love making crisps because you don’t have to mess with rolling out pie dough and wondering if it’s going to bake all the way through or be doughy on the bottom. The filling and topping portion of the pie is what I really want, so a crisp suites me just fine. 

I made this Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp gluten-free because I know there are so many people out there with food allergies. However, if you aren’t one of these people feel free to substitute the almond meal with all purpose or whole wheat flour. You can also still keep the recipe gluten-free by using oat flour or all purpose gluten-free flour. I love the texture almond meal gives the topping, but I also know it’s on the expensive side.

The apples, pears and cranberries are lightly sweetened with dark brown sugar and for tons of flavor I added cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. I also snuck in a little bourbon because I love the oak and vanilla notes it adds to the filling. You can always omit it, but if you have some on hand I highly recommend using it. 

The crisp bakes for about 40 minutes and it will make your whole house smell heavenly! It’s the perfect easy dessert to make this Thanksgiving or anytime during the holiday season! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

More Easy Desserts for Thanksgiving

Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bites

Brûléed Sweet Potato Bites with Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream

No Bake Apple Pie Bites

Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

Filling

• 4 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin (see note)
• 2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Topping

• 1 cup gluten-free old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup almond meal, (see note for substitutions)
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. and spray a 9x9 or similar size baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a medium size bowl combine the topping ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until it resembles small crumbs. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
3. In a large bowl add all of the ingredients for the filling and stir together until the fruit is coated.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown and crisp.
5. Let the crisp cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes

• A firm variety of apple is best for this recipe. Try Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala or Fuji.
• I recommend using D'Anjou pears for baking. They should be ripe, but still firm so they don't turn to mush while baking.
• If you prefer to not use almond meal in this recipe, gluten-free oat flour or gluten-free all purpose flour or 1-to-1 flour may be used. If gluten-free isn't an issue use all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 298 Total Fat: 12g Saturated Fat: 5g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 6g Cholesterol: 19mg Sodium: 140mg Carbohydrates: 48g Fiber: 7g Sugar: 30g Protein: 3g