The Perfect Gluten Free Apple Pear Crisp

Welcome!! If you are new here, you already know how much I love to Bake.  And, usually, I love to bake the good old fashioned way with lots of flour, sugar, nuts and butter! Who doesn't?! Recently, I  have noticed that a few of my wonderful friends are completely gluten-free... One, by choice, but the other two have to be based on health issues. This presented a challenge to me because let's face it,  I have to be able to share my cooking with my friends and family! Yes, I've said it! There is absolutely NO joy, for me,  in baking my wonderful yummy recipes if I can't share it with the people I Love.

So on that note, I took it to task to come up with a great recipe to make/bake for my gluten- intolerant friends!  I looked over A LOT of Gluten-free recipes, to see how they were replacing flour, mostly.  There is actually quite a bit of information out there! But, I didn't find a recipe that I was super-excited to try. With it being summer and the wealth of fresh fruits available, I wanted to make something that would celebrate that...  I love Apple Crisp! My family has made it since I was a child. We had a Golden Delicious apple tree in our yard and made all things apple from it, every summer. But, the one thing that every person in my family still makes is a good crisp.  So I got my inspiration from there!

Of course, like most crisps, ours includes Flour and Oats.  What I found out about oats and oatmeal was this, that if you buy completely organic oats, that have not been milled around flour products or other gluten-carrying grains, they, themselves, are gluten-free.  However, if you are worried about your supplier, you can always purchase 'gluten-free' Oats from  Whole Foods or another natural food stores.  So armed with that new knowledge I started playing with the recipe, looking at other ingredients that would make a tasty the crisp topping, without using flour.  What I came up with, to my own amazement, was actually better than my traditional Crisp!

 It is now the only way I will make a Crisp.  My first use of this 'recipe' was baked over peaches (you may remember, from a recent past post that I had easy, free access to those).  I made it for one of my friends and she loved it!  The real surprise to me was, that I did, too!! I mean REALLY loved it.

My supply of peaches has all but disappeared, but, what I have had on hand quite a bit lately was apples, but not really enough for a full crisp. I also had some Pears, which I'm being truly honest, have never been my favorite fruit. However, I have enjoyed baking with them before! So, that is how this recipe came about, and I have to tell you, it is a hit & a new favorite of mine, as well.

So, here's what I did:

I combined 3 lg apples ( I had 2 Gravenstein and 1 Granny Smith) but,  you could use whatever your favorite baking apple is.

I didn't want to use a whole lot of sugar in this recipe, and since pears have quite a sweet flavor, I decided to combine them with my apples.

I combined 5 small to med. pears (peeled and sliced) in with my apples.

Then, I tossed them with 1/3 cup white sugar

1 full teaspoon of cinnamon

1 heaping Tablespoon of Red Mill's Gluten-Free Pancake Mix. (I find this works much better than the plain gluten-free flour. Especially, with fruit, because I love the way the tapioca flour, included in its ingredients, pairs with baked fruit) It is also wheat and dairy free.

Fold together a few times, in a large bowl then dump it into a buttered pie pan.

Now you are ready to add your gluten-free "crisp" to the top!

In a separate, dry bowl, I combined:

2/3 cup of organic oats

1/2 cup gluten-free pancake mix

1/3 cup almond flour (I like the roasted better, but that's up to you)

1/2 cup light organic brown sugar

I added a little cinnamon to this, as well

Toss with a fork, and add about 6 tablespoons of melted butter to your oat mixture. Work it in well, so it starts getting clumpy. Then it's ready. Scoop over the apple/pear mixture allowing for some mixture to get into all the nooks and crannies.    

Place on a foil covered baking sheet in bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 35-50 mins.  Use your knife to check the tenderness of the apples.  By the time the knife slides in easily your crisp is ready!

Place on a foil covered baking sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 35-50 mins.

Use your knife to check the tenderness of the apples.  By the time the knife slides in easily your crisp is ready!A little coffee or tea and you have a very tasty, nutty flavored, Gluten-Free dessert to share with your friends and family!

As I said earlier, I have made this with peaches, too, and last week, I even made one with Blueberries.  The recipe is the same, just adjust the fruit measurements! I hope this gave you a good tool to put in your recipe box to enjoy and to make for your friends with dietary restrictions.

It is always such a pleasure, for me, to come to share my goings-on with you all. Thanks for following along with me!  For more pictures and tips, pop on over to Shoestring's Facebook page if you like, you can find it Here

I will be sharing this recipe with these lovely ladies:

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This post was featured by the very talented & kind, Richella @ Imparting Grace!