In the Kitchen: Apple and Pear Crisp Fake-Out

Every once in a while, I feel the need to be true to the name of my blog and give you an idea for creating A Soft Place to Land for your family. And there's not better way to do that than to fill their noses with sweet smells and their bellies with baked fruit and buttery, crunchy topping.

You're welcome.

This dessert is impressive enough to serve to company but easy enough to throw together on a whim. It's my go-to dessert in the fall because it's so yummy and no one ever knows how quick and easy it is. Trust me.

Here's what you need...Canned, sliced pears (Yep! Canned! No one will ever know), canned apple pie filling, oatmeal (regular or quick cooking), butter (Awwwww, yeah!), brown sugar and cinnamon.

Drain those cans of pears (4 of them) and dump them into a baking dish (I used a 9x13). Dump the apple pie filling (1 can) in there too. Give it a good stir. Wipe the sweat from your brow. This is hard work, no?

Mix together all your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. That's 1-1/2 cup oats, 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon.

Now cut up your butter (3/4 cup...That's 1-1/2 sticks) and put it in with your dry ingredients. Gosh, I love butter.

This next part is fun. Get your fingers in there and start smooshing the butter into the dry ingredients. Keep smooshing until your mixture looks like coarse crumbs. You could use a fork for this part if you have an aversion to getting butter on your fingers. But it's way easier to use your hands.

A note about crumble toppings...I have strong opinions on fruit crisps/crumbles/cobblers/bobblers...Most recipes have too much fruit and not enough crunchy, sweet, buttery topping for my taste. I've fiddled with this recipe over the years to get just the right proportion of fruit to crisp topping.

See? How pretty does that look? Just crumble the topping evenly over your fruit mixture and you're ready to go.

Bake this pan of fruity, sweet goodness at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes. You want the fruit to be all hot and bubbly and the topping to start to get crispy and browned.

Allow the crisp to cool for a few minutes and then serve it up with some vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. Do NOT skip this step. Ice cream is critical.

Enjoy!

Apple and Pear Crisp Fake-Out

4 cans (15 oz each) sliced pears, drained
1 can (20 oz) apple pie filling
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, cut up
Ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 425º.
2. Combine pears and apple pie filling in 9x12" baking dish.
3. Combine dry ingredients (oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon)in bowl.
4. Mix in the butter using your fingers or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Crumble the topping over your fruit.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the fruit is hot and bubbly and the topping is crisp and browned.

Edited to add: I just linked this post up to the Recipe Party @ Southern Hospitality.