Glitter & Grace

Ask me about my favorite fruit dessert, and I’ll give you two very specific answers: strawberry shortcake and apple crisp. The first for spring (and my birthday!); the latter for fall. What, no pie? I simply prefer the crumbly, crunchy, buttery, cinnamony topping of a great crisp to any pie dough – plus, it’s so much easier to make! So here in our house, pie is normally relegated to the Thanksgiving table, with crisps, cobblers, and galettes garnering most of the attention throughout late summer and fall. I devised this healthy rendition of a fruit crisp so that I could enjoy one of my favorite desserts, guilt-free, at any time of day or night. Sure, there’s no comparison to the real thing (which I’ll have to make for you at some point this season), but this dish is perfect is all of its healthy glory. The crumbly oat and walnut topping is held together with coconut oil, a nutritional rockstar; it packs in more fruit than you can imagine eating in one sitting; and that requisite touch of cinnamon is the perfect autumn addition. I know what my go-to breakfast will be this season!

Pear Breakfast Crisp

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

For Fruit Filling:

• 4 ripe pears
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Topping:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9-inch glass pie dish with coconut oil or butter.
2. Slice pears into cubes. In a large bowl, combine with remaining filling ingredients. Pour into prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, whisk together all topping ingredients except coconut oil.
4. Drizzle melted coconut oil over oat mixture and stir to combine. Distribute over pears in large clumps.
5. Bake until browned and bubbly, about 35 minutes, covering with foil if the topping becomes too dark.