Caramel Pear Crisp: Melt in Your Mouth Good

Last night I bought a big bag of ripe pears from the grocery store. I love pears. They are near the top of my favorite fruit list, although I can never only choose one. My kids absolutely adore them too. Which is why it is strange that I rarely bake with them. I suppose because they go so fast in our house, I’m never looking for a way to use them up.

This morning I had a craving for something with caramel. Perhaps it was walking by that bag of caramels sitting on our island over and over again that did it. I had a tote of apples and did some searching online for a new apple recipe with caramel. I came across several but while checking out an apple crisp recipe I saw this pear crisp recipe instead. I couldn’t resist trying it out but I changed it up a bit to suit my tastes and what we had on hand.

The smell, oh the heavenly smell, as it baked filled my house with a wonderful aroma. If you are looking for a great recipe to serve warm, this one is a great choice!

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Caramel Pear Crisp

Course Dessert

Servings 4 servings (one cup each)

Author Altered recipe from Kraft

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter cut up
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 squares honey flavored graham crackers coarsely crumbled (about 2/3 cup)
• 4 large pears
• 12 caramels unwrapped
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Optional Toppings:
• whipped cream whipped topping or ice cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Combine oats, sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in butter until like coarse crumb, using a pastry blender or two forks. Stir in coarsely crushed graham crackers. Set aside.
3. Peel and slice pears into 1/2-inch thick slices. Add to ungreased 1-1/2-qt. casserole. Sprinkle with crumb topping.
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 min. Pears should be tender and topping should be golden. Cool for 15 minutes.
5. Melt caramels and milk in microwave. This will take around 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, depending upon your microwave, until completely melted. Be sure to stir in 30 second intervals.
6. Serve dessert in small dishes, drizzling caramel over the top of each and adding whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

I didn’t have any cookie wafers but I did have honey flavored graham crackers and figured they’d be a great substitute. It was so  simple to put together.

When I pulled it out of the oven, I could still see the bubbles from the pears cooking on the side.  It was hard not to take a bite right away! (Great tip from Kraft Check on your topping a little early and add aluminum foil to the top if you feel it is getting too dark. I did not need to do this.)

I served this as a one cup serving but if serving with ice cream, 1/2 cup servings would be sufficient.

My whole family was enthusiastic about this dish and it is definitely on my repeat list.

Have you tried baking with pears lately?