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.

Pear Crisp

Today I got a really good deal on some Bartlett Pears.  Pears, in my opinion, are the perfect fruit to spice up, especially during late fall.  I do use pears year round though and am always looking for different ways to use them.  Tonight I wanted a dessert, but not something with a full crust, so then came the idea for a crisp.  Here are all the ingredients:

5 large pears, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 stick butter, melted

Pretty Bartlett Pears ready for cooking.

You want the pears to be pretty firm since they will soften slightly after cooking.  These Bartlett Pears were perfect for the job.  Peel and core the pears, then chop them into small pieces.  I diced them, but thinly slicing them would work just as well.  Put the pieces in a bowl, along with 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Gently mix with a spoon.

Place pear mixture in a baking dish while mixing up the crumb topping.

Place the pears in a baking dish and in a separate mixing bowl, combine 1 cup all purpose flour, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg.  Melt one stick of butter and slowly drizzle it into the crumb topping mixture.  As you drizzle the butter in, use a fork to combine until it is crumbly.

Pears with crumb topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Top the pears in the baking dish with the crumb mixture.  Cook on the bottom rack at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Switch the pan to the top rack and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Warm, bubbly, crispy goodness

Serve the Pear Crisp while warm.

Next time I make this recipe, I will be adding crushed pecans or walnuts to the topping.