Cinnamon Pear Crumble

This pear crumble is the perfect way to mix up your Fall desserts! With spices like cinnamon and ginger, maple syrup and fresh pears, this warm and fruity dessert is a total crowd pleaser.

It’s that time of year where I’m getting a little sick of apple and pumpkin recipe. Ok, just kidding, I’m never sick of apple and pumpkin recipes, but I figured this year we could mix things up a bit and throw a pear recipe into the mix!

This pear crumble has a sweet base of pears, brown sugar, some maple syrup and spices like cinnamon and ginger for delicious Fall flavors. The topping is a crumble topping, not a crisp topping, so it is largely just flour, sugar and butter instead of a base of oats like in a crisp. If you love this recipe, try my gluten free coffee cake or apple cider donuts next!

Tips before we get started…

• It’s ok if your pears aren’t super ripe for this recipe – in fact firm pears work best. They will soften up when we bake them and will be sweeter with the additions of maple syrup and brown sugar.
• I do recommend peeling the skin off the pears for the best texture. I always recommend this for apple based desserts, so we’re going to do the same here! I used bartlett pears but Bosc and Concorde are also great pears for baking.
• You can easily decrease the sugar in the pear part of the recipe if you want this a little less sweet! My advise would be to cut both the brown sugar and maple syrup by no more than half. That way you still get both flavors in there.

How to make pear crumble

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set aside a 9 inch pie dish. I didn’t grease mine, I had no issues with sticking!

Peel and core your pears, then slice into strips or cubes. I sliced into strips then sliced each in half for this recipe, but it’s really just a personal preference!

Add to a large mixing bowl and toss with all of the other ingredients listed under “pear.” Toss until everything is well coated. Set aside.

Add the softened butter to a bowl and use a fork to combine with the sugar until both are well incorporated. Add in the flour, starting with 1 cup and adding 2-4 more tablespoons as needed. Mix in the cinnamon and salt. It should look crumbly.

Transfer the pears to the pie dish, then add the crumble on top. Bake, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. I usually place the pie dish on top of a cookie sheet because the pears can bubble and spill onto the oven so this makes clean up easier!

Remove from the oven and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy and try my gluten free apple bread next!

Crumble vs. crisp

Crumbles and crisps like my gluten free apple crisp are often confused for each other. The main difference is that a crisp has a crumble topping made with oats and a crumble has a topping that is mostly butter, sugar and flour.

For this pear crumble recipe, we’re going with a classic crumble topping and not using oats, but if you prefer to turn this into a pear crisp, simply use the oat based topping from my apple crisp recipe.

How to store

Once prepared, this apple crisp will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. It is best served fresh/on the same day you bake it, but it reheats really well in the microwave if you have leftovers.

The topping unfortunately will lose some of the crispiness as it sits in the fridge, so if you want to pop it in the oven under the broiler for a few minutes, you might be able to get some crispiness back. The flavor will still be amazing, just the texture will change as it sits. You can microwave and the texture of the pears will be find, but the crumble definitely won’t get crispy.

Fall desserts you’ll love!

• Gluten Free Apple Cake
• Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies
• Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
• Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte

Be sure to leave a comment and rating down below if you try this recipe! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on instagram for more recipes and updates!