Gingerbread Pear Crumble

I am so happy for my blogging friend, Kathy Hester. Her latest book, OATrageous Oatmeals is fantastic!! When I heard that Kathy was having a blog tour featuring recipes from her book, I signed up, right away.

Then I got a sneak peak at the book and knew how fortunate I was to be able to share Kathy’s Gingerbread Pear Crumble on Desserts Required. Most of my desserts are not vegan and Kathy is the queen of vegan cooking and baking. OATrageous Oatmeals joins Kathy’s other books, The Vegan Slow Cooker, The Great Vegan Bean Book and Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just You.

Agave is a delightful sweetener for both the topping and the fruit. The topping is a combination of rolled oats, whole wheat pastry flour, molasses and those heavenly autumn spices….ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves.

I made Gingerbread Pear Crumble when I had a group coming over for dinner because I wanted everyone’s feedback. There was one challenge; I needed a picture before my friends arrived.

Fortunately, I was going to serve Kathy’s crumble. Had I made a cake, it would have been challenging to take off a piece and then try to ‘glue’ it back together. I took out a scoopful of the Crumble for the picture and, very carefully, returned it to the baking dish. No one would have known had I not shared the story.

The feedback was wonderful. Several people went back for seconds. The ingredients that are, usually, found on Desserts Required but are not vegan friendly were not missed.

OATrageous Oatmeals includes many other fantastic recipes such as Stir-Fried Veggie Oats, Steel-Cut Oat Bean Chili, Creamy Butternut Squash Oat Soup, Pepita Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars and Chocolate Hazelnut Granola. Plus, of course, Kathy is a walking encyclopedia of all things oats and shares her wisdom on the subject.

Watch it:

Gingerbread Pear Crumble

From OATrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester printed with permission of Page Street Publishing

soy-free, gluten-free option*, oil-free option**

This is a wonderful way to keep your holidays healthy, and it takes less time to make than a batch of cookies. If you aren’t a huge molasses fan, you can use half the amount or even replace it with another sweetener. Depending on what you have on hand, use either apples or a combination of pears and apples.

Makes 8 servings

Topping Ingredients:
1 cup (96 g) rolled oats
1 cup (132 g) whole wheat pastry flour (*use a gluten-free baking mix)
1/4 cup (60 ml) agave nectar
2 tablespoons (40 g) molasses
11/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄8 teaspoon cloves

Filling Ingredients:
5 cups (805 g) chopped pears (peeled if not organic)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) agave nectar,optional
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with oil. (**You can also line with parchment paper or use a nonstick pan to make it oil-free.)

Combine all of the topping ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
If your pears aren’t very sweet, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of agave nectar and a pinch of salt.
Spread out the pear mixture in the casserole dish.

Crumble the gingerbread topping over the pears, then bake for 30 minutes.

Per serving: Calories 202.3, protein 3.1 g, total fat 1.1 g, carbohydrates 47.2 g, sodium 1.9 mg, fiber 5.7 g

Betsy’s tidbit:
I had fresh raspberries in my fridge and added them into my crumble. Totally delicious!

Winning is something you can do once you enter into my giveaway contest to win your very own copy of Kathy’s OATrageous Oatmeals! Here’s how it works:

You must be at least 18 years of age and live in the Continental United States or Canada.
Leave a comment on this post.
For an extra entry, ‘like’ my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dessertsrequired) and leave a 2^nd comment here letting me know you did or already have.
If you want ONE MORE entry, ‘like’ OATrageous Oatmeals Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/oatrageousoatmeals) and leave another comment or combine it with your 2nd comment here letting me know you did or already have.
If you want to tip the scale even FURTHER and get a third entry, ‘follow’ me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/dessertsreqrd) and leave another comment or combine with your 2^nd comment here letting me know you did or already have.
Contest closes Tuesday, October 28th at Midnight. Winner will be notified and will have 48 hours to respond to my email with shipping info. After that time if no response is forthcoming, a new winner will be chosen.