Apple and Pear Crisp

Since I’ve been on this self inflicted pantry challenge I wanted to challenge myself to make desserts too. I had a little bit of fresh produce so I decided to do something sweet instead of savory with the apples and pears.
This crock pot apple and pear crisp was the perfect crock pot dessert. Everyone wanted to go back for seconds, but I only made enough for 1 serving for everyone in my 2 1/2 quart crock pot. It could easily be doubled though and made in a 5 – 6 quart crock pot.
Here is how I did it:

Filling:

1 lb of apples (I used a mix of granny smith and gala, only because it’s what I had on hand)
1 lb of pears (I used bosc, only because it’s what I had on hand)
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Topping:

3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (I used quick cooking oats)
1/2 stick (or 1/4 cup) unsalted buttered, sliced and diced

Peel and core the apples and pears. Slice them into 1/4″ – 1/2″ pieces, just make sure they’re as close to the same sizes as possible. Toss the fruit slices with lemon juice until evenly coated in a medium sized bowl. Add the sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice and toss until evenly coated and distributed.
In a small bowl add all of the dry topping ingredients (making sure to leave out the butter) and work together with a fork until well combined. ~ It does help to have a great little assistant for this 😉

Line the crockery insert of your crock pot with a slow cooker liner then with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with non-stick spray.

Evenly spread the fruit filling in the bottom of the lined crock pot.Then spread the topping over top of the filling, making sure to cover the filling completely. Now you are going to dot the butter all over the topping. Cover with 3 – 4 paper towels and secure them with the lid. This will keep extra moisture from watering down the crisp as it cooks.
Cook on low for 3 1/2 – 4 hours
Serve while warm, preferrably with vanilla ice cream 🙂
*TIP*Double the topping recipe and store in a zip top bag to make a quick fruit crisp without the extra work next time.