Pear crisp is a delicious way to turn fresh pears into a homemade dessert. It takes just one hour from start to finish, with most of that time spent baking, and makes a great fall alternative to apple crisp.
Pear crisp is one of the easiest ways to turn fresh pears into dessert. The pears become tender as they bake beneath a sweet, crisp topping, giving you a simple homemade dessert without having to make a pie crust or spend much time on prep.
This recipe takes about an hour from start to finish, but most of that is hands-off baking time. It’s a great fall dessert alternative to desserts like apple crisp for those times when you want to bake something seasonal that isn’t made with apples or pumpkin.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Pears: Baking pears, like Bosc pears and Anjou pears, work best. Slightly underripe Bartlett pears can also be used. I don’t recommend ripe or overripe Bartlett pears as they will get mushy when baked.
- Spices: You can adjust the spices according to your tastes or add additional warm spices, like cardamom or allspice, if you prefer.
- Oats: Old-fashioned oats or rolled oats work best.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work. Feel free to use more or less of the sugar in the filling depending on how sweet your pears are.
- Butter: I use salted butter. If you’re using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt along with the butter.
How to make pear crisp
Here you’ll find instructions and step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe, including ingredients, is given below.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×11-inch baking dish. Set aside.
Step 2: Add the pears to a large bowl.
Step 3: Add the brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Toss until the pears are evenly coated.
Step 4: Spread the pear mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish.
Step 5: In a separate medium bowl, stir together the oats, flour, and brown sugar.
Step 6: Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms crumbs with some larger clumps. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pears.
Step 7: Bake for about 40–50 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the pear filling is bubbling around the edges. If the topping browns too quickly, loosely tent it with foil toward the end.
Step 8: Let it stand for 10–15 minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips!
- Serving suggestion: Pear crisp can be served as-is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Sweetened whipped cream or a drizzle of caramel sauce is also fantastic with this crisp.
- Keep the topping crisp! I only cover the cut section, and I press the plastic wrap against the cut section of pears without covering the crisp topping. I’ve found that covering the topping or storing it in an airtight container traps too much moisture and leads to soggy topping the next day.
- Variation: You can add 1/4 cup chopped nuts, like almonds, walnuts, or pecans, to the topping.
- Gluten free apple crisp: To make the recipe gluten free, substitute a measure-for-measure gluten free flour for the all-purpose flour or use cornstarch as a thickener in place of the flour. Also, be sure to check that the oats, and all of the other ingredients, are gluten free.
Storage
Store any leftover pear crisp at room temperature. It will keep for 3-4 days, but it’s best eaten in the first 1-2 days.
More fruit recipes!
If you’ve tried this easy pear crisp recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!
You can subscribe to receive my latest recipe newsletters or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or TikTok for even more delicious food.
Pear Crisp Recipe
Equipment
- 8×11-inch baking dish
Ingredients
Pear filling
- 6 cups peeled, cored, and sliced pears about 2½–3 pounds whole pears
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Crisp topping
- 1½ cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup cold salted butter cut into pea-sized pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×11-inch baking dish.
- Add the pears to a large bowl.6 cups peeled, cored, and sliced pears
- Add the brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Toss until the pears are evenly coated.¼ cup packed light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, Pinch of salt
- Spread the pear mixture evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- In a separate medium bowl, stir together the oats, flour, and brown sugar. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture forms crumbs with some larger clumps. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pears.1½ cups old-fashioned oats, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup cold salted butter
- Bake for about 40–50 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the pear filling is bubbling around the edges. If the topping browns too quickly, loosely tent it with foil toward the end.
- Let it stand for 10–15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Pears: Baking pears, like Bosc and Anjou, work best. Slightly underripe Bartlett pears can also be used. I don’t recommend ripe or overripe Bartlett pears as they will get mushy when baked.
- Spices: You can adjust the spices according to your tastes.
- Oats: Old-fashioned oats or rolled oats work best.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work. Feel free to use more or less of the sugar in the filling depending on how sweet your pears are.
- Butter: I use salted butter. If you’re using unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon salt along with the butter.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Share it with me on Instagram @i_heart_eating and follow on Youtube @katedean and Pinterest @katedean for more!
Reader Interactions
Leave A Reply!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Love this recipe?
Share your thoughts below and let’s chat! Make sure to connect with me on your favorite social platform below and show me what you made!