Cranberry Pear Crisp

After impulsively buying some beautiful Bosc pears at the farmers market, I got home and realized I had no idea what to do with them. So I asked my friend Julie for some suggestions (and because she is awesome at finding recipes) and decided to start with Ina Garten's Pear and Apple crisp as a starting point, but I forgot to print the recipe. So when I got home I just winged it and ended up with a surprisingly delicious crisp.

This is a great modification of a traditional apple crisp. The pear is a very welcome change, both texturally and taste wise. The cranberries add beautiful color and the thick topping is always a favorite. This crisp is great straight out of the oven or the day after. This would be a lovely dessert to display on your Thanksgiving dessert table.

Ingredients
Adapted from Ina Garten

Filling
6-8 Ripe Bosc Pears
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup Crasins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Topping
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 11x7 baking dish.

Peel, core and cut the pears into medium sized wedges. Add pears to a large bowl. Sprinkle the vanilla extract over the pears and toss to coat. Add sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and crasins. Pour into baking dish and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, oatmeal and cold butter. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the pear mixture.

Place the crisp on a baking sheet and bake for one hour until the pears are bubbly. If the topping starts to get too brown, place a large baking sheet on a rack over the crisp to prevent burning.