This Browned Butter Apple Pear Crisp brings together the best of fall's tree fruit, baked together until jammy under a crispy, buttery oat topping made with browned butter.
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"What grows together goes together" is a rule I often return to when developing recipes, and this Browned Butter Apple Pear Crisp is a good example. It's a slight twist on the classic apple crisp: the apples stay a little tart and hold their shape, while the pears melt into a softer texture and bring a mellow sweetness. The topping is extra buttery, and browning that butter gives it a toasty, nutty depth. Browned butter shows up everywhere these days, but I use it in moderation, only when it adds something to the recipe. It does here. Everything else stays simple. The fruit is tossed with brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon, and a little cinnamon and ginger, then pressed into one dish.
Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the fruit. It's the kind of dessert that fits a Sunday dinner in October just as easily as a Thanksgiving table.
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Choosing the Right Fruit
Use baking apples that hold their shape, and choose a mix of tart and sweet. My two favorite apples for any recipe are Gala and Granny Smith. For the pears, Anjou (red or green) and Bartlett are my top choices. More important than the variety, though, is how ripe the pears are. Look for pears that are just barely ripe, with no brown blemishes or soft spots on the skin. They shouldn't be rock-hard, but they also shouldn't be so soft that you can easily make an indentation when you squeeze them.
How to Make It
A crisp is a cousin to pie, but definitely a lot more approachable.
If you've never browned butter before, you might want to grab for a light-colored saucepan...this helps you see the butter change color better. At first, the butter will melt, then foam and sizzle as the water in the butter evaporates. Keep stirring and watching once it goes quiet. The butter is ready when it turns deep yellow, golden bits form at the bottom of the pan, and it smells strongly nutty, about 5 minutes. Pour it into a heatproof bowl right away, since the residual heat in the pan can quickly take it from browned to burnt. Scrape in all of the browned bits, too, since that's where most of the flavor is. Whisking in 2 more tablespoons of unbrowned butter cools it down and makes the crisp topping richer.
Once the crisp is assembled, bake it on top of a rimmed baking sheet to catch any juice that bubbles over. The apple-pear filling is thickened with cornstarch, which needs to reach at least 200°F to fully activate and set the juices. You'll know it's ready when the topping is golden and the filling is actively bubbling. Bubbling is a helpful visual cue, but for more accuracy, you can check the center of the crisp with an instant-read thermometer.
Step 1: Butter the baking dish.
Step 2: Toss the fruit with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, spices, and salt.
Step 3: Transfer the fruit to the baking dish and press it down so the pieces sit close together.
Step 4: Brown the butter until it's a deep yellow color with darkened milk solids separated out at the bottom.
Step 5: Pour the browned butter into a heatproof bowl and whisk in the remaining butter, then the sugar, vanilla, and salt.
Step 6: Stir in the flour and oats until just combined, then let the topping rest for about 5 minutes to clump.
Step 7: Sprinkle the topping over the fruit in an even layer.
Step 8: Bake until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling.
How to Serve and Store It
Straight from the oven, the apple pear filling will be very runny. It thickens as it cools, so give it about 15 minutes before serving.
Serve it warm or at room temperature, on its own or the way it's always served at my house: with a scoop of ice cream, preferably cinnamon. Cold ice cream melting into the warm fruit and browned butter topping is pretty awesome.
This dessert is best the day it's baked, while the topping is still crisp. Leftovers, kept covered at room temperature for up to 1 day, make a good next-day breakfast. If you want to bring back some of the crunch, reheat the crisp in a 350°F oven or a toaster oven.
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Full Recipe
Browned Butter Apple Pear Crisp
This Browned Butter Apple Pear Crisp celebrates fall's tree fruit, baked until juicy under a buttery oat topping. Browning that butter gives the topping a toasted, nutty depth. Firm baking apples like Gala, Granny Smith, or Honeycrisp hold their shape, while Anjou or Bartlett pears that are ripe but still firm soften as they bake, adding a more rounded flavor to the dish. The peels can stay on for a little more texture and color or come off, whichever you prefer.
- Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
- YieldServes 6-8
Ingredients
- For the Apple Pear Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 pounds (907 grams) baking apples, cored and diced (about 5 medium apples)
- 1-½ pounds (680 grams) pears, cored and diced (about 3 large or 4-5 small pears)
- ¾ cup (150 grams) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- pinch of coarse kosher salt
- For the Browned Butter Crisp Topping
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter, divided
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt (see note)
- 1-½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ice cream, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and place an oven rack in the middle part of the oven. Spread the softened butter over the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square or similar 2.5-quart baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Transfer the fruit to the prepared baking dish and press it down to leave as little space between the pieces as possible.
- In a medium saucepan, melt 8 tablespoons (113 grams) of the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until the butter foams and sizzles, then subsides and turns deep golden amber with browned bits at the bottom and smells intensely nutty, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat right away and pour the browned butter, including the browned bits, into a medium heatproof bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of butter and whisk until melted and combined.
- To the bowl, whisk in the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir in the flour and oats until just combined. Let the topping sit for about 5 minutes so the flour can hydrate and the mixture can clump together.
- Sprinkle the topping over the fruit in an even layer. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake until the topping is light golden and the filling is bubbling, 50-55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
This recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease the volume by half.
The apples and pears are weighed whole, before coring and dicing.
Peeling the fruit is optional. The weight stays the same either way.
Any 2.5-quart baking dish works, such as a 9-inch square or an oval dish. The fruit will mound above the rim at first and cook down as it bakes.
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