People who know me know that I love to cook, but I’m really passionate about baking. I don’t get to do it as much as I would like because I try not to keep too many sweets in the house. Many times I only bake if we have someplace to go and share it with others. I still have a sweet tooth though and I get an itch every once in a while to really want to bake something. So I try to find recipes that are low in calories and that Greg will eat. Yes, Greg is my other obstacle because he doesn’t really like cakes and such. As mentioned before, he loves brownies and cookies, but you can only make so many brownies and cookies.

Well, during one of my urges to bake I came across a recipe for Harvest Pear Crisp. I figured there would be a 50/50 chance with Greg agreeing to this one. The disadvantage, he doesn’t really like pie type desserts. The advantage, he LOVES pears. I passed my first hurdle when he saw the recipe and said, yeah that looks good. With that said I proceeded with my dessert making.

The end verdict you ask? He loved it! Not only that, but I don’t like pears and I also loved it. I would like to try making it with apples or a apple/pear mix next time. This will definitely be a standby on the dessert list.

Harvest Pear Crisp

courtesy of Cooking Light

6 cups of pears (your choice), cored and cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices (about 3 pounds).
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs. cornstarch
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 cup all purpose flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ tsp. salt
3 tbs. chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup rolled oats
¼ coarsely chopped walnuts (I left these out)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine pears and lemon juice in a 2-quart baking dish; toss gently to coat. Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture to pear mixture; toss well to coat.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add chilled butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add oats and walnuts (if desired); pulse 2 times. Sprinkle flour mixture evenly over pear mixture.

Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until pears are tender and topping is golden brown. Cool 20 minutes on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature.

I highly recommend serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!