Pear Apple Cranberry Crisp Spiced with Nutmeg {Paleo, Grain-Free, Gluten-Free}

It's officially December. This has many different meanings for many different people, but for me, it means great company and even greater food. My oven is now on practically on at all hours of the day as I crank out cookie after cookie and all other types of sweet treats. Once in a while I do take the time to cook main courses too, although those images and recipes never quite make it to the final copy of these pages.

We had a few friends over for dinner the other night for a "just because" kind of get together. Since we have pescatarian friends the spread was an array of veggies, salmon and of course, grass fed beef. To finish, I had an assortment of cookies that have been churned out of my kitchen in the past few days along with a fresh and delicious crisp. All in all, it was a nice quiet evening.

I love crisps so much no matter what time of the year it happens to be. To me they are a great way to feature seasonal and local fruit and play up their flavours with a little spice. Since we're reaching the tail end of pear season in Vancouver, I decided to use some beautiful pears and pull out one of the dozens of bags of cranberries I have frozen away. (Imagine two garbage bags full of fresh cranberries, then picture how that would look in Ziploc bags stuffed into two different deep freezes.) I added an apple for texture and moisture and because I found a nice one at the market. Toss all of that with a little melted butter, cinnamon, coconut sugar, homemade vanilla and some freshly grated nutmeg and you have a fall/winter crisp. I topped it with a mix of shredded coconut, almond flour, slivered almonds and butter to make a crisp yet tender crust, almost like a cookie. The finished product is a tribute to the start of winter, from the red and green colouring of the fruit to the aroma of the nutmeg and vanilla. Finish it off with dollop of ice cream, whipped cream or coconut cream to really get into the Christmas spirit!




Pear Apple Cranberry Crisp Spiced with Nutmeg

Filling

2 pears (I used Anjou) sliced into 1/2 - 2/3 in. pieces
1 crisp apple (I used ambrosia) sliced into 1/2 - 2/3 in. pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries (homemade or unsweetened)
3 tbs coconut sugar
2 tbs melted grass-fed butter
1 tbs cinnamon
1-2 tbs nutmeg, depending on taste
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp arrowroot powder, optional

Crust

7 tbs grass fed butter, cold and cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
3/4 cup almond flour
1/3 cup slivered or shredded almonds
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In a large bowl, combine diced pears and apple with berries.  Add in melted butter, tossing until coated. Sprinkle in,sugar and spices and mix until well incorporated. Transfer to a glass pie dish.

In a food processor (or by hand if you want to roll like that), combine cold butter with coconut, almond flour, sugar and spices. If mixing by hand, the almonds can be added in at any time.

Once combined, add in almonds and pulse a few more times.

Sprinkle mixture over top of spiced fruits and then press into pan to create a uniform crust. Try not to let any of the fruit peak out, as it ruins the seal of the crust and will not allow the crispy crust to form.

Cover top of crisp with tin foil, or a pie shield, then bake for 25-35 minutes. For the last 10-15 minutes, remove the foil to let the crust crisp up without burning. Remove and let cool before serving.