sprinklefingers

i treated two pears rather unkindly.
purchased at home, they traveled to the beach. they sat on the kitchen countertop for five days, then, ripe as can be, they traveled back home…in a bag filled with apples and oranges.

to say they were bumped and bruised would be putting it lightly.

while i hate to waste food, these pears were really only going to be good for two things:
1. the trash
2. baking

i decided to go with baking.

poor bruised pear crumble
serves 2

[this sweet treat was a breeze for me to whip up because i always have a bag of crumbly top stowed in my freezer. i consider it a pantry staple.]

you need:

• 2 ripe pears, unpeeled but cored, and chopped into 1/2” pieces
• 1 T unsalted butter, diced small
• 2 t chinese five spice sugar or cinnamon sugar
• small pinch kosher salt
• 1-2 cups crumbly top, depending upon how much you like and what will fit in your dish. (i tend to use a lot of crumbly top!)

make the crumble:

1. preheat the oven to 350.
2. butter a small baking dish - 2 cup capacity would be perfect.
3. place the pears in the prepared dish and sprinkle evenly with the sugar.
4. dot the top of the pears with the butter and sprinkle with salt.
5. top the pears with your desired amount of crumbly top. you will want to press it down lightly so that it sticks to the top of the fruit…and so you can fit as much crumbly top as possible in the dish (that might just be me.)
6. bake for 30-35 minutes or until the fruit is bubbly and the crumbly top is golden.

i tried to save our pear crumble for after-dinner-dessert, but it turned into an after-breakfast-dessert. we love crumble around here.