This Apple Pear Crisp is a beautiful fall-inspired treat, perfect for cozy afternoons. It's sweet, full of tender fruits and crunchy walnuts, mixed with seasonal flavors. Absolutely delicious! Filled with hearty oats and made without refined sugar, this healthy fruit crisp will surely become your favorite Fall dessert.
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You can find apples in stores throughout the whole year, but they are in season during September. Beautiful, juicy, and super sweet, it's hard to resist them. Fresh or baked, they are basically daily on my menu.
One of my favorite quick midweek desserts is fruit crisp. You can categorize fruit crisp as a dessert, but I like to think of it as a great breakfast option. I usually use a lot of fresh fruits and wholesome ingredients while minimizing added sugars. So yeah, it's a nutritious meal more than just a sweet dessert.
This Apple Pear Crisp recipe is one of my favs lately. It's effortless to make, rustic, and full of seasonal flavors. A perfect combination of tasty and healthy.
Why should you try it?
- It's full of pears and apples, crunchy walnuts, and seasonal flavors. SO delicious!
- It's made with simple yet wholesome ingredients, without unhealthy refined sugar.
- It's packed with hearty OATS and fibers, good for digestion and immunity.
- It's a super comforting dessert, budget-friendly, and great for feeding a crowd.
- It's pretty filling and nutritious and can be served as breakfast too.
Ingredients used
This apple pear crisp recipe is very simple. You will need only a few pantry ingredients:
- Oats. Hearty, healthy, and filling, oats are stapled food in my pantry. They are an excellent source of fiber, especially beta-glucan, a type of soluble fiber that keeps our hearts healthy. They also support healthy digestion and strong immunity. I used rolled oats.
- Whole grain flour.
- Walnuts. For extra crunchiness. And some Omega-3 boost.
- Sweetener. I used coconut sugar that gave a nice caramelized flavor.
- Ceylon cinnamon. Also known as “true” cinnamon. Cinnamon is packed with powerful antioxidants that have anti-inflammatory properties. (1, 2) Cinnamon gave this apple and pear crisp a wonderful flavor.
- Apples and pears. Use juicy, sweet ripe fruits.
Other pantry ingredients you’ll need:
- Ground nutmeg and allspice. Highly flavorful seasonal spices.
- Vanilla extract. For extra flavor punch.
- Pinch of salt.
- Extra virgin coconut oil.
How to make Apple Pear Crisp
This apple pear crisp is really easy to make. Preparation takes no more than 10 minutes. The rest is baking time, and for that, you will only need patience.
Equipment used
- Measuring cups.
- Mixing bowls.
- 9 x 9 baking dish.
Step by step instructions
- Step 1: Prepare the ingredients.
- Start with preparing and measuring all the ingredients. I like to use measuring cups.
- Wash, slice, core, and dice apples and pears. You don't need to peel the fruits.
- Chop the walnuts.
- Step 2: Prepare the base.
- Put the chopped apples and pears in a baking dish. Add spices - vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and coconut sugar (if used).
- Mix well until the fruit base is well coated. Set aside.
- Step 3: Prepare the topping.
- Combine oats, flour, walnuts, coconut sugar, softened coconut oil, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
- Mix well using a spoon or hands. The topping should be crumbly.
- Step 4: Assemble and bake.
- Spread oat mixture evenly over the base.
- Put in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 35-40 minutes until the topping is golden brown and apples and pears are fork-tender.
Tips for serving
- Top warm apple pear crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for a delicious dessert.
- Drizzle with maple syrup or honey for extra sweetness.
- Top with yogurt or a splash of milk for an excellent nutritious breakfast.
Tips for storing
- Keep in an air-tight food container refrigerated. It will last up to 4 days.
- To freeze: Store in a food container. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw on room temperature.
- Fruit crisp can be warmed in the microwave or oven. Don't overheat it because the topping might go a little soggy.
Substitutions
- You can substitute whole grain flour with oat flour, almond, or all-purpose flour.
- You can substitute coconut sugar and use maple syrup or honey. See "Recipe tips" for more suggestions.
- You can substitute walnuts with chestnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, pecans.
- You can substitute coconut oil with avocado oil or grass-fed butter.
- Omit nutmeg and allspice if you find it to be aromatic.
- Substitute cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice with pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Make it gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free oats. Substitute whole-grain flour with any gluten-free flour.
- Make it low-calorie: Omit adding sugar into the base, and use less sugar in the topping.
Recipe tips
- Use rolled oats. Quick oats don't work well here.
- If substituting coconut oil with salted butter, omit adding salt.
- Double the amount of topping and keep it in the freezer to use in other fruit crisps.
- You can use this recipe to make any fruits crisp.
- When cutting fruits, I like to cut them into small cubes. The smallest the fruits are cut, the softer base will become.
- Use ripe, slightly firm pears. If the pears are too ripe, they will get mushy before the apple cook through.
- Sweetener recommendation:
- You can use honey or maple syrup here. Make sure you use honey in liquid form, not raw.
- Date syrup or molasses are great options too.
- Use stevia or any low-carb sweetener for low-calorie crisp.
- Make sure to use organic virgin coconut oil rather than refined versions.
If you're craving a warm, hearty sweet treat, this Apple Pear Crisp is just the thing. It's delightful, beautifully flavored, and super delicious. It tastes just like Fall. Enjoy!
Recipe
Apple Pear Crisp
Ingredients
- 2 apples
- 2 pears
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch of allspice
Topping
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup whole grain flour
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup walnuts roughly chopped
- ½ cup extra virgin coconut oil softened (but not melted)
Instructions
- Prepare and measure all the ingredients. Wash, slice, core, and dice apples and pears. Chop the walnuts.
- Preheat the oven at 180°C/350°F.
- Put the chopped apples and pears in a baking dish.
- Add spices - vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and coconut sugar (if using).
- Mix well until fruit base is well coated. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine oats, flour, walnuts, coconut sugar, softened coconut oil, and salt.
- Mix well using a spoon or hands.
- Spread oat mixture evenly over the base.
- Put in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (until the topping is golden brown and apples and pears are fork tender).
Notes
- Keep in an air-tight food container refrigerated. It will last up to 4 days.
- To freeze: Store in a food container. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw on room temperature.
- Reheat in the microwave or oven.
- You can substitute whole grain flour with oat flour, almond, or all-purpose flour.
- You can substitute coconut sugar and use maple syrup or honey.
- You can substitute walnuts with chestnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, pecans.
- You can substitute coconut oil with avocado oil or grass-fed butter.
- Substitute cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice with pumpkin pie spice mix.
- Make it gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free oats. Substitute whole-grain flour with any gluten-free flour.
- Make it low-calorie: Omit adding sugar into the base, and use less sugar in the topping.
Nutrition
This post is originally published in September 2018. It's updated with new information and republished in September 2021. The recipe is changed slightly as I tested it more during that time.
nancy says
lovely easy homemade apple pie. I love how you added pears to it. i can't wait to make this again.
Giangi Townsend says
This recipe has become our family's favorite recipe. Love the combination and that it is so easy to make.