Bake pears into a sweet fall dessert

Pear season is well underway, but baking with them typically is more of a fall activity.

This pear crumble is an easy way to use pears — and to use up non-perfect pears, since the fruit seems to have a perfect ripeness stage of about 5 seconds.

I added crystallized ginger bits to the pears for a little pop of spiciness, but feel free to substitute dried cranberries or raisins, or play with the spices in the topping. Cardamom, for example, is lovely with pears.

Pear crumble with ginger bits

Seeves 6

Ingredients:

6 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 to 3 tablespoons crystalized ginger bits

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For crumble:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour, or more all-purpose flour

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal)

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 2-quart baking dish or large pie pan with butter or cooking spray. I used a rectangular glass dish, the better to spread out the crumble to get crunchy.

In a medium bowl, gently mix the pear pieces, ginger bits, cornstarch and lemon juice. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the flours, nuts, sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt. Work the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers. The butter should be thoroughly mixed in, but some small pieces should be visible.

Spread the crumble topping evenly over the pears. Bake until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving, with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.