I have more blackberry recipes for you, never fear, but I’m taking a break to post a crisp I made up earlier this week. We had these two overripe pears sitting on the counter. They were obviously juicy and very sweet, but just too soft for good eating. So, I took those, a couple of apples left over after making the apple-blackberry pie that you’ll be hearing about later, and some of the cranberries from the freezer and created this crisp. Because Jennifer is currently visiting us I couldn’t use flour (long story short, when we’re sharing kitchen space I avoid making anything that would throw gluten up into the air), so this is a GF crisp too :D. You can thank me later. It’s quite delicious, especially with freshly whipped cream on top!

You could easily use fresh cranberries, though as I said, mine were frozen (I froze part of a bulk bag a while back). I do not recommend using dried. Though it would probably work okay, it’ll taste pretty different, as dried cranberries have a rather different flavor. Also, though you can get them dried and sweetened with fruit juice, standard dried cranberries have TONS of added sugar. Oh, and the coconut in the topping is optional; I added it for a little additional flavor, and we like it a lot, but I know it’s a pretty common allergen. It’ll turn out just fine without it,  just a little plainer.

GF Fall Crisp

Topping:

• 1 c oats (I used quick oats, but whole oats will probably work too)
• 2 TBS walnuts, ground
• 1 TBS flax seed meal
• *1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 2 TBS brown rice syrup
• 2 TBS maple syrup
• 1 TBS melted butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt

*Optional ingredient

Filling:

• 2 baking apples (such as braeburn, granny smith, or jonathan)
• 2 ripe pears (I used Bartlett, but D’Anjou would probably work too, so long as they’re very ripe)
• 3/4 cup whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 3 TBS lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 TBS maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside.

2. Peel and core both the apples and pears. Slice the apples pretty thinly, but let the pears be chunkier when you cut them up. Combine both in a large bowl. Add the cranberries and mix. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.

3. Put the fruit mixture into a greased 2.5 qt baking dish. An 8×8 pan will do, though I used a round corningware dish, because it was pretty :D.  Spread the topping mixture over the fruit evenly.

4. Bake the crisp in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, covering the dish with foil or parchment paper about halfway through the baking time, when the topping is browned. This will help prevent the topping from burning while letting the filling get cooked up enough. When the filling is just beginning to bubble up and the dish is nice and fragrant, it’s done. Serve warm, with fresh whipped cream if desired. Enjoy!