A few weeks ago, my wonderful friends whisked me away for a relaxing weekend in a quaint little lakeside town in Wisconsin called, fittingly, Lake Geneva. We sat outside, drank wine (Wisconsin has this thing for fruit wines, and you haven’t lived until you have had the cranberry version), ate really well, drank some more, inhaled fudge and … well you get the gist. A lot of eating, drinking, chatting and relaxing. And picture-taking, the spoils of which I will now subject you to*. Sorry.
*the recipe is at the bottom of the page, so feel free to scroll down if you don’t want to read about apple picking in Wisconsin.
(Please don’t be too jealous of my ability to take artistic photos from speeding cars. Thanks.)
The view from our room. It was pretty hard to leave.
And, of course, I dragged everyone to apple picking!
Wait. Isn’t fresh-picked wine just grapes? I feel cheated.
I don’t know about you, but most years, if I actually get around to organizing a trip to the apple orchard, it’s on one of the last days of the season when the trees are barren and picked over, offering me little else than the unripe, undersized and – if you’re particularly (un)lucky – insect-riddled seconds of the season.
But this year, as luck would have it, we happened to be in Wisconsin on the very first day that the apple orchards were open. The limbs of the trees were bowing with the weight of more voluptuous, juicy apples than they could seemingly handle, so we were happy to lighten their load. Since there were so many apples, and many of us, it only took about 10 minutes to fill our bag (even counting time spent taking selfies). Nonetheless, we felt so accomplished, even triumphant, that it was time for a snack.
You don’t have to tell me twice.
I got home with a full stomach and a ton of apples so I made a crisp. Not a great story, I know, but it’s kind of a great crisp. That’s not just my opinion; I have it confirmed from multiple sources. So there: data.
I had a few pears near the end of their lives that needed to be used up, so I used a mixture of fruit, but you can certainly use all apples, if you are lucky enough to have had a day at the orchard (or, you know, if they were on sale at the grocery store), or all pears if you accidentally bough too many from Costco, which was my predicament. I peeled the tough skin off of the apples and left the more delicate skin on the pears, but you don’t have to peel whatever you don’t want to or have time for. It’s completely up to you.
The rest kind of speaks for itself, and speaks so loudly and seductively that you should probably be prepared for this crisp not to last very long. Honestly, this recipe is so easy, flexible and forgiving that I have to insist you give it a try.
Grain-Free Skillet Apple Pear Crisp
Yield:
6 servings
Ingredients
Ingredients for the filling
- 2 ripe pears, cubed
- 2 tart apples, optional, peeled and cubed
- 1/2 Tablespoon tapioca or arrowroot starch
- 1/2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch cardamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
Ingredients for the crumble
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- Pinch salt
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 2 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup
Instructions
- Grease a small (approximately 8") oven-safe skillet and preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a mixing bowl, toss together the filling ingredients to make sure all the fruit is coated. Pour the fruit into the prepared skillet and smooth into an even layer.
- In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, flour and salt, then stir in the coconut oil and honey until it comes together in a large ball of dough. Use your fingers to sprinkle large clumps of the dough over the fruit mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbly around the edges.
Notes
You can use all apples, all pears, or whatever stone fruits you'd like, as long as it amounts to about 3 heaping cups of cubed fruit.
Yield: One six-inch skillet crisp
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 213Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 29mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 6gSugar: 21gProtein: 3g
laura says
A friend of mine is having to experiment with a dairy free/gluten free diet, so this sounds like the perfect dessert! Thanks! Love your site.
Nora (A Clean Bake) says
I hope the diet helps your friend, Laura! Hopefully there is plenty of info on the site, but if she has any questions, she can feel free to email me! I’m so glad you found the site and are enjoying it. Have a great weekend!
Susan says
This looks delicious! Can you suggest substitutes for the coconut sugar, coconut oil and almond flour?
Nora (A Clean Bake) says
Unfortunately, I’ve not tried these subs, but my suggestions would be:
– maple sugar or granulated honey for coconut sugar
– butter or ghee for coconut oil
– cashew flour (if you tolerate other tree nuts) for almond flour
Let me know how it goes!
Sharon Sopczynski says
Love this recipe but need to know the carbs
Nora (A Clean Bake) says
I just added the nutrition info for you!