Ina's Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp

Yummy! I saw Ina making some tasty treats on her show the other day and she just so happened to be making this crisp which caught my eye because I had just purchased 4 bosc pears. I was possibly going to try poaching them but the more I thought about it, the less I thought The Husband might like a poached pear. Maybe I'll still try it someday, but this crisp was going to be right up The Husband's alley!

It is pretty simple to throw together and Ina had made like 10 personal ramekins so I decided to half the recipe which worked out great for us - dessert for a few days. The dish I used was about 8x8 or 9x9. You simply chop up the fruit, mix up the ingredients and bake. I didn't have a lemon so I just used orange juice and some clementine peel grated, which is what I had on hand. The orange flavor was pronounced so I was worried The Husband wouldn't like it, but he did. I also put cinnamon into the crisp topping, and instead of parchment, I just sprayed my baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and I used room temp butter and slightly less, plus I used granny smith apples, since that's what I had handy. Other than that, I followed the recipe and it turned out just fabulous. I love the dried cranberry addition! Alas, we were out of ice cream but this would be perfect with it. I might make just an apple-cranberry crisp next time, the topping is a keeper also - really delicious. It tastes like little crumbled sandy cookies on top.

Ina's Apple Pear Cranberry Crisp
 as seen here on foodtv.com
Ingredients

2 pounds ripe Bosc pears (4 pears)
2 pounds firm Macoun apples (6 apples)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and core the pears and apples and cut them into large chunks. Place the fruit in a large bowl and toss with the cranberries, zests, juices, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish

For the topping:
Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the mixture is in large crumbles. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit, covering the fruit completely.

Place the baking dish on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve warm.

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