(vegan) pear ‘n cranberry crumble (or crisp) (depending on what side of the pond you find yourself in), but nonetheless delicious everywhere you make it. Despite some people finding pears to be well… blah, I find that they make some of the best crumbles.

They do, however, often need a slight push. And count on the touch of (freshly ground) white pepper and cranberries to provide such aid in this comforting breakfast-meets-dessert. Plus, I am loading up on these winter berries while I still can (call it a cranberry craze if you will).

This sweet treat is a variation of my staple (vegan and gluten free) pear crumble, and it is wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of yoghurt, or (crème fraîche) whipped cream.

But for pure vegan-ism, it is nonetheless an incredibly tasty (and healthy) winter staple even when eaten plain as Jane (if you catch my drift).

click through for recipe

for the filling
900 g (2 lbs) Anjou pears (about 4), peeled, cored and diced
120 g (1 heaping cup) fresh cranberries
60 mL (1/4 cup) agave nectar
2 TBS cornstarch
a pinch of freshly ground white pepper
a pinch of fine sea salt
15 mL (1 TBS) fresh lemon juice
60 mL (1/4 cup) water

for the topping
50 g (1/2 cup) quick cooking oats
60 g (1/2 cup) brown rice flour
50 g (1/2 cup) pecans, roughly chopped
2 TBS evaporated cane juice
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
45 mL (3 TBS) grapeseed (or canola) oil
15 mL (1 TBS) almond milk

Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF)

Mix well together the diced pears, cranberries, agave nectar, cornstarch, white pepper, salt, lemon juice and water and place in a baking dish.

For the topping, whisk together the quick cooking oats, brown rice flour, pecans, evaporated cane juice (or cane sugar), baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the vanilla extract, grapeseed oil and almond milk and mix until ‘crumbly’. Sprinkle evenly over the pear and cranberry mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Serve warm (preferably) alone or with a good dollop of vanilla ice cream or (crème fraîche) whipped cream.

serves 4-6

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IMPORTANT NOTE: while I provide measurements in both grams and cups throughout my recipes, I tend to favour weighing the ingredients for greater precision. Measuring by cups depends on too many variables (starting with how you pour the flour) and can be imprecise. I therefore highly suggest following the metric measurements for best results.

a bit more #gnom-gnom: