While a crisp may seem like a summer and fall recipe, there’s no reason it can’t exist for the holidays too! This cranberry apple pear crisp uses the best flavors of the season and combines them into a delicious dessert. Whether it’s for a party or simply a weeknight, you’re going to love this recipe!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish and set it aside.
In a large bowl, mix the sliced apples, pears, cranberries, and crystallized ginger. Add the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, orange zest, and orange juice. Stir to combine. Natural juices from the fruit will begin to collect. Pour the fruit and any juices into the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and ground ginger. Add the pieces of butter and toss to coat each piece of butter in the dry mixture. Use thumb and forefinger to work the butter into the mixture until the pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of a pea and the consistency is like wet sand.
Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the prepared filling. Bake in the preheated oven until the center of the filling is bubbling and the streusel is browned, 55-75 minutes. Once it is baked, remove the crisp from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Make sure to wash the cranberries and inspect for any bad spots. If there are less than-desirable cranberries, remove them.
To zest the orange, simply put the orange in one static hand and use the other hand to move the Microplane across the surface. This will collect all of the orange zest in the confines of the Microplane, which can then be tapped out easily (and mess-free) into the bowl with all of the other ingredients.
The fruit filling should be mixed until the sugar begins to draw out some of the juices from the fruit. The fruit should look like it’s moist and syrupy.
When making the streusel, before smashing the butter, toss it in the dry ingredients first. This will ensure that each piece of butter is coated in some of the dry ingredients and will prevent two pieces from sticking together. This will make the smashing process easier.
When adding the filling to the baking dish, make sure to add any of the residual juices sitting at the bottom of the bowl. These juices will contain some of the cornstarch, which will help thicken the entire crisp once baked.