Pears! Such an underrated fruit that deserves more love, don’t you think?
Traditional fruit crisps are filled with lots of excess butter and sugar, but as always I try to lighten it up while still producing pure deliciousness. For these I cut down on the sugar by only using a bit of maple syrup in the filling. You don’t need much sweetener as the pears are typically sweet and juicy enough on their own, especially when baked and their own natural sugars start to caramelize.
So can you eat these delicious gluten free pear crisps for breakfast and dessert? You do you boo! These are also especially delicious with an extra drizzle of maple syrup and big ol' scoop of yogurt or some cinnamon cashew cream (recipe also included below.)
So, how to tell if a pear is ripe?
Have you ever cut into a pear that you thought would be perfectly ripe, but was wayyy too ripe on the inside? Because same. To tell if a pear is ripe, very gently squeeze the pear near the stem. If you can apply pressure and if it’s very slightly soft, then you know your pear is ripe. A little fun fact about pears: They're one of the few fruits that don’t ripen on the tree. They are picked when mature and of size not when ripe for eating. Once they're picked, they need a little time for their sugars to develop, then they ripen (and sweeten) from the inside out. Just-picked or purchased pears should be left out on the counter to ripen and kept out of the fridge. Once ripe, you should then store pears in the refrigerator.
Also, some pear varieties change color when ripe. Bartlett pears (the ones preferred in this recipe) acts like a banana—it goes from green to yellow when ready to eat.
Individual Baked Pear Crisps
Easy to make and delicious to eat! These individual crisps are made with simple ingredients and topped with a delicious cinnamon oat walnut crumble. They are
vegan, gluten free and so simple it's a dessert (or breakfast...or snack) you'll make again and again!
Makes 4 -8 servings
INGREDIENTS:
4 bartlett pears, ripe but still firm
For the crumble
½ cup oats
1/3 cup walnuts, or sliced almonds
2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed
2 Tablespoon hempseeds
2 Tablespoons coconut flakes
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
Pinch of salt
For the cinnamon cashew cream
¾ cup cashews
2 T maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
¾ cup water
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and rub the inside of a baking dish with a little coconut oil.
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency - preferably still with very small chunks. You do not want it to be a complete powder.
3. Add in the wet ingredients - coconut oil, maple syrup, and extracts and pulse until combined and you don’t see large chucks of the coconut oil.
4. Slice the pears in half and spoon out the center of seeds.
5. Pour the crumble over the top & bake for 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to overbake as they will turn mushy.
6. Serve as is, drizzle with a little extra maple syrup, a dollop of yogurt and/or drizzle with cashew cinnamon cream
* For the cashew cream: Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Depending on what kind of blender you have you may need to add more liquid and adjust the seasonings.
Tips & Tidbits
* Make sure you don’t use overly ripe pears, these will come out mushy if you do. You want to make sure they are firm without bruises on them.