This apple and pear crumble is tossed with sugar and cinnamon and baked under a buttery oat crumble topping. An autumn classic. And yes. It's perfectly acceptable to have this as breakfast as well as dessert!
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Did I mention that we're making a buttery caramel sauce first, then tossing the apples and pears through that. But have no fear. We'll walk through it step by step and you'll have a prize-winning crumble with very little fuss and not much effort. Something we can all agree is the ultimate dessert goal!
There's also a tonne of other apple and crumble style desserts for you to make like easy apple crumble cake, quick and easy fruit crumble, raspberry peach fruit crumble and easy apple cake.
Why You'll Love This Crumble Recipe
I've always said that a hearty crumble is my absolute favourite dessert ever. No matter the fruit, as long as it's jammy and the topping is a crispy, crunchy and buttery oat texture. This one is has improved on all those things!
- This recipe has a very small ingredient list, but delivers so much flavour and comfort!
- The apples and pears are tossed in caramel sauce.
- Buttery oat topping is spiced with cinnamon and mixed spice.
- It will make your house smell like autumn.
- It keeps so well in the fridge for a few days, so you can dip a spoon in every time you open the fridge for any reason.
- This can double as a great brunch addition.
- Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream, or cold with hot custard.
Ingredients needed
- Apples- any kind. * See notes below.
- Pears- again, I used any pears. I do like them a little on the softer side for making crumble so any "wind fall" or slightly bruised pears will work here too.
- Sugar- caster, granulated or demerara. They all work and there's no need to adjust the measures for the different kinds of sugar.
- Plain flour- helps to thicken the filling and is used for the crumble topping too.
- Oats- I'm patricular about the oats used in crumble topping and granola. They really should be whole rolled oats. Quick cooking oats are just too fine and dusty and your crumble texture won't be as amazing as it could be. I always have a bag of these Kavanagh oats in my cupboard for everything. They are the best ones I've ever tried.
- Butter- salted or unsalted. But really... who buys unsalted butter?
- Mixed spice and cinnamon- for the filling and the topping. You could also add in some nutmeg here, but Aldi doesn't sell it, so we're not using it, but feel free if you have some on hand.
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1 & 2
Start by preheating your oven, and place an oven-safe and hob safe dish on the burner. I absolutely love these cast iron pans but you can use a regular skillet.
Start the pan over medium heat and gradually add the sugar to the pan a tablespoon at a time. The sugar will start to melt and turn golden.
*Or you can make the caramel in a saucepan and then transfer it to an oven-safe dish.
Step 3 & 4
Continue to cook the caramel over low heat until you have a deep golden brown caramel.
Set aside while you slice the apples and pears and place them in a bowl with some flour and spices. Toss the fruit with the dry ingredients so everything is coated and mixed well.
*Special warning if using cast iron- it conducts heat very very well and you will need to keep your pan on low heat to avoid the sugar burning very quickly.
Step 5 & 6
Mix the fruit filling with the caramel sauce. *This will not look pretty and you will think something has gone terribly wrong.
Have no fear. Once the crumble is in the oven, the caramel sauce heats up again and the juices from the fruit start to release and you end up with the sweetest, juiciest caramel sauce.
Mix the oat topping ingredients either in a food processor or by hand, and place over the fruit. I use all of my crumble topping because I prefer an almost 1:1 ratio of crumble to fruit, but you can split it in two and freeze half for when you make your next crumble.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the fruit is soft and the caramel sauce is bubbling up around the edges of your pan.
Appel and Pear Crumble FAQ's
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
Simple And Comforting Oat Topped Apple And Pear Crumble
Ingredients
- 3 (3) apples, peeled and chopped *See notes
- 4 (4) pears, peeled and chopped
- 130 g (4 ⅗ oz) brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons (5 tablespoons) butter
- 30 g (1 oz) plain flour
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) ground cinnamon
For the crumble topping
- 225 g (1 5/7 cups) plain flour
- 225 g (8 oz) cold butter
- 125 g (1 ½ cups) rolled oats
- 175 g (6 ⅙ oz) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) mixed spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC
- Peel and chop the apples and pears. Place them in a medium bowl toss with the 30g of plain flour. Set aside.
- Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Add the 130g of brown sugar to the butter and continue to cooker over the heat until the sugar has melted and turned into a caramel sauce.
- Place the apples and pears into the pan and toss to coat with the caramel sauce. Set aside for a few minutes while you make the crumble topping.
- In a food processor place all the ingredients for the crumble topping and use the pulse function to create a coarse and chunky crumble topping. *See notes
- Top the apple and pear mix with the crumble topping. *See notes
- Bake in the preheated oven until the crumble is golden and the caramel sauce is starting to bubble up from around the edges, about 30 minutes.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.
- This crumble makes enough to serve 6 people generously. Also makes a great weekend breakfast served cold.
Notes
- The ratio of apples to pears is subjective, but you need about 650g of fruit in total.
- If you don’t have a food processor you can use a wooden spoon and your fingertips to blend the cold butter into the oat mixture until it looks like chunky bread crumbs.
- This recipe makes a generous amount of oat topping. You can freeze any remainder in a container or freezer bag for making another crumble.
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