I like making easy desserts, and this apple and pear crisp hits the mark for being easy to throw together. When the boys were living at home, I often made a 9 x 13 pan of some kind of fruit crisp or cobbler, but since it’s just me, I needed to try and cut down on the amount I make. Otherwise, I’ll just eat the whole thing, and that’s definitely not good. I had a couple different varieties of apples (Arkansas Black and Pink Lady) on hand as well as a few Bosc pears I needed to use, so this was the combination I used for this crisp. I tried to measure the topping ingredients, but to be honest, most the time when I made a fruit crisp, I don’t really measure. I just “know” what the topping supposed to look like, so feel free to play around with the amounts, particularly any spices, depending on your family’s tastes.

I didn’t peel the apples or the pears just because I like the texture, but feel free to do so if you prefer.

Apple and Pear Crisp

2 apples, cored and sliced

2 pears, cored and sliced

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cold butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 8 x 8-inch baking pan with vegetable spray (or grease with butter). Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine sliced apples and pears. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over fruits and stir to coat. Pour fruit into prepared pan.

In the same bowl, add the remaining ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry knife until it forms crumbs. Place crumb mixture over top of the fruit. (I like a lot of topping on mine, but you don’t have to use all this topping if you don’t want).

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is nice and brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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