Author Notes
Crisp is pie’s shabby-chic, laid-back cousin who opts for hugs over handshakes. Recipes vary on: baking dish (I like a 9” cake pan for its depth); fruit thickness (I like slouchy but not runny); and streusel amount (I like a thick blanket). What they have in common is that they’re sweet. Like, super sweet. Enter our workaround: Toss the pears with freshly ground black pepper for floral, warm spice. Salt the oat streusel, generously. And instead of serving with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream, just set out some cream—or, you know, a lot of cream—to pour and pour on top. —Emma Laperruque
Test Kitchen Notes
This recipe is part of Change The Way You Cook, a new series to help anyone (yes, you!) become smarter, faster, and more freewheeling in the kitchen. —The Editors
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Ingredients
- Crisp
-
Unsalted butter, for greasing
-
4
firm d'anjou pears (about 2 1/2 pounds), chopped into 1" chunks (about 5 1/2 cups)
-
1/2 cup
sugar
-
2 1/2 tablespoons
cornstarch
-
1 tablespoon
apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
-
1 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
-
1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
-
Heavy cream, for serving
- Streusel
-
1 1/2 cups
rolled oats, divided
-
1/2 cup
whole-wheat flour
-
1/2 cup
brown sugar
-
1 1/2 teaspoons
kosher salt
-
6 ounces
(1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold, cubed
Directions
- Crisp
-
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 9” cake pan with unsalted butter. Set it on a lined sheet tray.
-
Make the fruit filling. Combine the pears, sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Gingerly toss with a spoon (or your hands!) until combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan.
- Streusel
-
Add 1 cup oats, plus the flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor. Pulse a couple times just to combine. Sprinkle the butter evenly over the dry ingredients. Continue to pulse until a dough just begins to form—sort of like a shaggy cookie dough. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup oats by hand.
-
Evenly distribute the streusel on top of the fruit. Don’t worry if its texture is uneven—big clumps here, little crumbs there—that’s just what we want.
-
Bake for about 50 minutes until the streusel is deeply browned and the fruit juice is bubbly and slightly thick. Wait at least 20 minutes to serve warm. Or, let sit out for hours and serve at room temperature. Or, if any leftovers last until tomorrow morning, meet your new favorite breakfast. In any case: serve with lots of cream.
Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.
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