Cranberry Pear Crisp

This fruit crisp takes a left turn from the usual apple filling by building on a base of cooked brown rice, diced pears, and tart cranberries. The rice adds a chewy, almost pudding-like body to the filling that you don’t get from fruit alone, and it soaks up the juices from the pears and cranberries as everything bakes together.

The topping is where the crunch lives. Oats, pecans, and flaked coconut get cut into butter until crumbly, then baked until golden and craggy on top. That mix of textures against the soft, tangy-sweet filling underneath is what makes a crisp worth eating.

Fresh or frozen cranberries both work here. Their sharp tartness keeps the dessert from being one-note sweet and makes this a natural fit for fall and holiday tables. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chef Tips

• Use ripe but firm pears. Bartlett or Bosc hold their shape during baking without turning to mush
• Chop the cranberries roughly so they burst and release their juices into the filling
• Cut the butter into the topping until it looks like coarse meal, not paste. Bigger crumbles mean better crunch
• Works in the microwave in under 5 minutes if you’re short on time

Variations

• Swap pears for crisp apples and add a pinch of cinnamon to the filling for a more traditional fall flavor
• Use walnuts instead of pecans and skip the coconut for a simpler topping
• Make it gluten-free by using certified gluten-free oats and a gluten-free flour blend