A warm pear crisp made with tender baked pears, a crunchy pecan topping, and hints of vanilla. It’s an easy dessert perfect for cozy fall evenings. Only 7 ingredients!
If you have a ton of pears on hand, this is the perfect recipe for you. You can easily double it or combine it with other fruits, if needed! Or try our blueberry rhubarb crisp recipe in case you are looking for a different flavor profile.
We love this fall dessert and make it often. It’s our family’s favorite recipe that feeds a crowd and everyone loves it. People always ask for the recipe!
How to make pear crisp from scratch
Ingredients:
- Fresh pears
- Sugar
- Butter
- Flour
- Pecans
- Vanilla extract – optional
- Cornstarch – optional
Tools you will need:
- Measuring cups and spoons, or scale.
- Cutting board and knife – to make it easier for you, use 2 knives. One for coring and peeling pears and other one – Chef’s knife (large flat blade) for chopping pecans.
- Spatula – or a spoon to combine the pears, sugar, vanilla so the fruits are evenly coated.
- Medium or large bowl – for the topping.
- Baking dish – 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 centimeter) works great here but a slightly smaller one can be used as well.
The process:
This recipe required minimal ingredients and tools. I like to prep the pears and throw them directly into the baking dish. That way I have 1 bowl less to wash.
To the dish I add sugar and vanilla flavoring and mix everything together. You can do this by hand too!
Important: If you use pears that are way too soft, they might release a lot of juice. For that reason, I recommend adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch at this point. For more information see below the FAQ section.
Next, I make the topping by combining sugar, butter and flour together. It can be done in a food processor, if you want to. I do it by hand. Simply flaking the butter and mixing it with flour and sugar until everything turns into a breadcrumb like texture.
When done, I add roughly chopped nuts and sprinkle this topping over the fruits.
Baking will take somewhere between 35 to 55 minutes so keep an eye on it, especially when you are making this pear crisp for the first time. The fruits should be soft and boiling away and the topping should turn golden brown.
Please note that you will find a printable recipe card with measurements and full instructions at the bottom of this post.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can. You will need to adjust the cooking time as they mostly need heating through only rather than cooking.
Vanilla ice cream, sour cream, caramel sauce or whipped cream are all good options.
You can prep the dessert a day before baking and keep it in the fridge, covered. You can also prep the topping and fruits separately (in the fridge) and assemble it right before baking. It is possible to make the whole fruit crisp in advance – including baking but there are a few things to remember: 1. It tastes best right after it has been taken out from the oven. 2. It will change its texture and might turn soggy as it sits (depending on how much juice the pears release).
Yes, it does. If you end up with any leftovers, cover them with plastic wrap or transfer into an airtight container and keep in the fridge. Consume within 2-3 days.
Pears that are hard to touch are better than overripe produce. Overripe fruit tends to be very juicy and mushy resulting in a very juicy crisp. If you see your fruit is too soft, make sure to use cornstarch to help reduce the juiciness.
Extra tips
If your produce is on the sweet side, you can use less sugar. Unless it is extremely sour, you should be OK with the quantity of sugar used in the recipe below.
I like to add some berries to the crisp as well, if I have some on hand – blueberries or currants are delicious options. Apples will also work great here!
If you don’t have vanilla on hand, don’t worry. Simply omit this ingredient!
In this pear crisp recipe, I used pecans as part of the topping. Now, you can use other nuts like hazelnuts or walnuts instead.
There is absolutely no need to grease your baking dish. The fruits are juicy enough and won’t stick to the bottom.
I like to keep this crisp recipe as simple as possible. But, you can add cinnamon to the pears or substitute it for the vanilla essence.
We have been enjoying this easy pear dessert often and most of the time I omit the cornstarch. Only once I ended up with an extremely juicy crisp due to pears being too ripe.
More pear desserts you might like:
- Pear Frangipane Tart – Another delicious dessert perfect for fall!
- Chocolate Pear Galette – A simple sweet treat with a rustic look.
- Baked Pears in Puff Pastry – 5 ingredients and ready in 30 minutes!
Pear Crisp
Ingredients
- 8 cups pears , peeled and diced, see note 1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract , optional, see note 2
- 1 cup granulated sugar , 200 grams, divided, see note and step 3
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch , optional, see note 4
- 3 ounces cold butter , diced (90 grams), see note 5
- 1 cup all-purpose flour , 130 grams, see note 6
- ½ cup pecans , roughly chopped, 50 grams, see note 7
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit/180 Celsius.
- Place the peeled and diced pears into a 9×13 inch (23×33 centimeter) casserole dish.
- Add ¼ cup (50 grams) of sugar. For hard, sour pears you can add more, up to ½ cup (100 grams) of sugar but no more. Reserve the other ½ cup for later. Add vanilla extract and cornstarch: for very soft pears: 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, for hard pears: 1 tablespoon or none of cornstarch. Mix everything well and set aside.
- For the topping: In a medium bowl, combine together ½ cup of sugar, diced butter and flour. With your fingers, start breaking the butter into smaller pieces and mixing with flour until you get a breadcrumb like texture. Then mix in chopped pecans.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pears and put the casserole in the oven.
- Bake at 350 Fahrenheit (180 Celsius) for 40 minutes or until golden brown on top and bubbling around the edges.
- Serve warm in a bowl as is or with vanilla ice cream or sour cream.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Try using pears that are hard to touch rather than overripe. Overripe fruit can release way too much juice. You will need about 2 kilos (4 pounds) of pears – before peeling. If you use a slightly smaller baking dish, use less fruit, about 6-7 cups. You can do a combo of apples and pears + berries.
- Vanilla extract can be omitted or substituted with 1 or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.
- Note that the fruit and berries all have different levels of sweetness. For this reason, the sweetness of your crisp can vary each time you make it. I personally don’t use more than ½ cup of sugar for 8 cups of fruit. When using very sweet produce, you might be fine with ¼ of sugar! So if you only use ¼ cup of sugar, you should end up with leftover sugar. Don’t add it to the topping. It can turn way too sweet.
- Like stated in the Method in Step 2, the quantity of cornstarch will depend on the sweetness of the pears.
- Use real butter. Not butter substitutes! I use unsalted butter.
- Make sure to use the exact amount of flour. You can use slightly less, but I don’t recommend using more. It can turn your topping rather floury.
- Pecans can be easily substituted with hazelnuts or walnuts. You can add more of them if you like.
- If you think the crisp is too sweet for your liking, serve it with sour cream to offset the sweetness. If a bit sour, serve it with ice cream.
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