This beautiful Cranberry Pear Crisp is the perfect holiday dessert. Warm sliced pears mixed with bright red, festive cranberries and topped with a crunchy, buttery oat crumble!
Include this naturally gluten-free crisp on your Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert menu this year. Your guests will make it disappear, and you will love how easy it is to make in the midst of cooking and baking a giant feast.
It doesn't get easier than this simple recipe with only six ingredients. Mix, top, and bake! It's a great recipe for little helpers, too!
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Ingredients
Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: Oats can be tricky. While naturally gluten-free, they are at high risk for cross-contact with gluten-containing grains. I use Gluten-Free Prairie Oatmeal or Bakery on Main Rolled Oats. Learn more about gluten-free oats in my apple crisp recipe. If you don't have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, feel free to use any brand of rolled (not instant) oats in this recipe.
The oats in this recipe are used in two ways. Some are quickly ground into a fine flour in the blender. The rest go straight into the topping, as-is.
If you want to skip the blender step, you can purchase gluten-free oat flour. I generally prefer the blender method, because it's so easy and rolled oats are a pantry staple in my house. Plus, it's nice not to have 10 different bags of flour around!
Light Brown Sugar: The light brown sugar adds a mild, caramel flavor to the filling and topping.
Sugar substitution notes: You can substitute white sugar in the filling, for a slightly milder flavor, or dark sugar in the topping for a more robust flavor. Because of the higher moisture content in dark brown sugar, I do not recommend using it for the filling.
Salted Butter (softened): The butter creates the rich, cookie-like topping. Be sure to use softened butter so it's easy to mix with the topping ingredients. If you forget to take it out of the fridge (we all do this!), heat the butter in 10 second increments in the microwave until softened, not melted. I find it usually takes about 30 seconds to soften butter in my microwave.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: This all-in-one spice for everything Thanksgiving and Christmas gives warmth to both the filling and topping in this seasonal cranberry pear crisp.
I have not come across any pumpkin spice with gluten-ingredients, but always check your ingredients. For more information on gluten in spices and spice mixes, read Celiac Guide: Gluten-Free Spices & Seasonings.
Ripe Medium Pears: Slicing the pears helps them bake quickly. Look for pears that are ripe, not firm, as they will add sweetness to balance the tartness of the cranberries. I used Bartlett, but red pears are also a lovely choice.
Fresh Cranberries: Speaking of tart cranberries, they create the perfect zing of flavor and seasonal color that makes this recipe so special. I use fresh cranberries.
If you are one of those shoppers who grabs a couple of bags of cranberries and throws them in the freezer to last all season, you are probably wondering if you can substitute frozen cranberries? I have not tested them in this recipe, but I have found frozen cranberries work well in baked recipes. Bake from frozen, not thawed, and increase the bake time by 5 minutes. The frozen cranberries will likely release more juices, so consider adding an extra ¼ cup of oat flour to the filling or let the crisp cool a little longer before serving.
Do not substitute dried cranberries.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400° F.
Holiday tip! I prefer to cook this dish hot and quick, but if you are coordinating with other lower-temp items in your oven, you can lower the heat to 350° F, and increase the bake time to about 40-45 minutes.
Make the oat flour in your blender or food processor. It's so easy! Setting aside 1 cup of rolled oats for the topping, blend the other 1 ⅓ cups of the oats for about 20-30 seconds.
They will quickly turn into approximately 1 ¼ cups fine oat flour.
Bring the kids into the kitchen for this next part! Fill a one-gallon Ziplock bag (or reusable silicone bag) with the reserved cup of whole oats, 1 cup of the oat flour, ½ cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and softened butter. Squeeze the bag until the mixture becomes crumbly and is the consistency of oatmeal cookie dough. (Let little helpers take turns squeeze-mixing the topping.)
Add the sliced pears and cranberries to a 10-inch pie pan or 8x8 square baking dish.
In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the remaining oat flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Sprinkle the mixture over the cranberries and pears. Use a spoon to gently mix the fruit until it is coated fairly evenly.
Sprinkle the oat topping over the cranberry-pear filling until the fruit is fully covered. Use a spatula to scrape all of the delicious topping out of the bag. You can also turn the bag inside out to get at the last little bit of the mixture.
Bake at 400° F for about 30-35 minutes. Your Cranberry Pear Crisp is ready when the topping is a beautiful, crisp, golden brown and the cranberry-pear filling is bubbly.
Allow the crisp to cool for 20 minutes before serving. It's delicious topped with homemade maple shipped cream, decadent store-bought caramel sauce, or simply vanilla ice cream.
Or turn this Cranberry Pear Crisp into an easy holiday breakfast served with vanilla yogurt!
Make Ahead Options
Assemble Up to 1-Day Ahead: Assemble your homemade cranberry pear crisp the day before the big celebration. Store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it. Bake just under an hour before serving guests, allowing 30-35 minutes to bake and 20 minutes to cool.
Freezing: Wrap the baked cranberry pear crisp with plastic wrap and then foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350° F for about 20 minutes until heated through.
Related Recipes
- Easy Gluten-Free Mini Cranberry Tarts: Easy Recipe
- 50 Festive Gluten-Free Christmas Dessert Recipes
- 35 Gluten-Free Fall Desserts to Spice up the Season
- Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
6-Ingredient Cranberry Pear Crisp (Gluten-Free!)
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cup gluten-free rolled oats, divided (recommendations: Gluten-Free Prairie Oatmeal or Bakery on Main Rolled Oats)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, divided
- ½ cup salted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided
- 4 ripe medium pears, sliced (recommended :Bartlett or red pears)
- 1½ cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400° F.
- Make Easy Oat Flour: In a blender or food processor, blend 1 ⅓ cups of the rolled oats for about 20-30 seconds until they turn into a fine oat flour. This will yield approximately 1 ¼ cups of oat flour.
- Mix Topping: Combine the remaining cup of whole oats, 1 cup of the oat flour, ½ cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and softened butter in a one-gallon Ziplock bag or reusable silicone bag. (reserve the remaining oat flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice for the filling). Squeeze the bag until the mixture becomes crumbly. (This is a great job for little helpers!) Alternatively, use a bowl and a pastry cutter to cut in the butter.
- Prepare Filling: Add the sliced pears and cranberries to a 10-inch pie pan. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix the remaining ¼ cup of oat flour, ½ cup of brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Then sprinkle the flour-sugar-spice mixture over the fruit. Gently toss with a spoon to coat the fruit evenly.
- Add Topping: Sprinkle topping over the cranberry-pear filling until fully covered.
- Bake & Serve: Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit mixture is bubbly. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.
