An apple and a pear crisp

In the land of "things I've never made", live many, many dishes...

Fruit crisps are among the long list of inhabitants in that world.  How can that be?  Well, I've never been one for fruit desserts growing up.  I was always the girl who preferred chocolate without fail.  I'm basically still that girl but I've expanded my horizons, and my palate, quite a bit in the last few years to include a taste for a wider variety of things.  

Why not make more than one kind:  Individual pear (left) and apple (right) crisps baked together

This past weekend, we went apple picking.  It was more like apple, pumpkin, and tomato-picking (I not-so-secretly enjoy picking the grape and cherry tomatoes best of all and now have an extra batch of roasted tomatoes stowed in the freezer).  The fresh apples we walked away with, as well as this Fall season, inspired me to tackle fruit crisps.  They always appealed to me on a small scale - being less complicated than pie and more manageable for my family and I to polish off (though we couldn't convince the little man to join in...he's currently like his mother when it comes to a preference for chocolate over fruit, I'm afraid).  

I used a Bartlett pear and a combination of Golden Delicious and Macoun apples for my individual crisps

Then I got to thinking: why just limit it to apples?  I have not forgotten pears since I talked about it about this time last year and I've been making sure to buy and eat plenty of them.  So I thought I'd make two individual-portion crisps - a pear and an apple.  I used the same streusel topping for both - a classic combination of oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  I also added some chopped walnuts because, for me, nuts usually make things better!  

For the apple crisp, I tossed the thinly sliced apples with some cinnamon and brown sugar.  

Digging into the apple crisp

For the pear crisp, I coated the diced pears with granulated sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a teeny bit of freshly grated ginger for a little zip.

The pear crisp

And when in doubt, add ice cream!  Warm desserts just scream out for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Anything 'a la mode' works for me. 

I can now check fruit crisps off my things-to-make list.  Never mind that there are something like ten thousand other things on that list!

In the recipes I searched for online and considered, I found that most apple crisp recipes called for sliced apples whereas pears were diced.  Randomly enough, I instinctively figured that diced apples made more sense for individual crisps since they would sort of nestle nicely in your spoon as you scoop.  These are the things I spend time mulling over!

Pears and apple slices, tossed in sugar and spices, ready for the ramekins

Well, interestingly (to me, anyway...), I really liked the apples sliced.  Not only do the thin slices soften nicely, you can cut right through the tender apples with your spoon and the thin texture works really well and lets you taste them better in a way.  This may be the elementary observation to many others but I love discovering these little things for myself in the kitchen!

Now a quick word on the streusel topping.  It's your usual lineup of ingredients, plus some chopped walnuts I added for a little extra dimension.  The recipe I adapted makes a fairly generous amount of topping for each ramekin (about 8-ounce capacity ones).  I went fairly "light" on the butter, 2 tablespoons for the two portions.  You might want to take it to 3 tablespoons if you want more richness, or scale down the amount of dry ingredients a tad instead.  Whenever we make something, I think most of us are thinking of ways we could've made it better or to suit someone else's taste more...

I baked the two crisps, side-by-side, in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.  Then I hiked up the oven temp to 375 for another 5 minutes to get a more golden color on the topping.

As you know, desserts like these need to be eaten fresh and warm (I like it steaming, even) and with that requisite scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on top.  My husband and I had a good time digging into these and comparing which we liked more...

...I think the classic apple won out this time.


Recipes:

Individual Apple Crisp
Adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon

- For one generous individual-serving (increase accordingly to make more) - 

For streusel:
2 tablespoons rolled oats
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
Good pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes
1 rounded tablespoon finely chopped walnuts

For filling:
1 medium-size apple (I used half Golden Delicious, half Macoun), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar (adjust according to sweetness of your apples)
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8-ounce ramekin with cooking spray and set on a small baking sheet.

Make streusel topping by stirring oats, flour, brown sugar, and spices together in a small bowl.  Cut in the butter using a fork until a coarse meal forms.  Stir in walnuts and set bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Stir apples together with the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Place filling inside the ramekin.  Top with streusel and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Individual Pear Crisp
Adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon's apple crisp recipe and The Pioneer Woman

- For one generous individual-serving (increase accordingly to make more) - 

For streusel:
2 tablespoons rolled oats
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
Good pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes
1 rounded tablespoon finely chopped walnuts

For filling:
1 medium pear (I used Bartlett) peeled, cored, and cut into small dices 
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (optional)
Pinch of ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8-ounce ramekin with cooking spray and set on a small baking sheet.

Make streusel topping by stirring oats, flour, brown sugar, and spices together in a small bowl.  Cut in the butter using a fork until a coarse meal forms.  Stir in walnuts and set bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Stir pears together with the sugar, ginger (if using), and cinnamon.  Place filling inside the ramekin. Top with streusel and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool for about 5 minutes and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


To make individual apple and pear crisps together:  To do like I did (make an individual apple and pear crisp side-by-side at once), double the streusel topping.  Prepare the individual fillings as listed, top each with half the streusel, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Turn oven temperature up to 375 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes until topping is golden brown.