Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie

This is a recipe I adapted from Kraft Kitchens.  Their recipe calls for a refrigerated pie crust, but I opted to add a special touch by making a batch of my Maw-Maw's pie crust.  This pie is the perfect balance of sweet and tart and is especially great at Thanksgiving.

Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie

Ingredients:
Your favorite pie crust recipe or 1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)
24 Vanilla Wafers, crushed (about 3/4 cup)
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup chopped cranberries
3 large fresh pears, sliced (firm pears work the best, I used Bartlett)
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Whipped Cream (optional)

Directions:
1.)  Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line 9-inch pie plate with crust. Bake 5 to 6 minutes or until lightly browned, then cool.

2.)  Meanwhile, mix wafer crumbs, sugar and butter until well blended.

3.)  Reduce oven temperature to 375ºF. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust and sprinkle with half the wafer crumb mixture.

4.)  Combine fruit in large bowl. Add dry pudding mix and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon into crust; top with remaining crumb mixture.

5.)  Bake for 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and crust is golden brown. Cool completely. Serve topped with whipped cream if desired.