When pears are in season, this healthy pear crumble with oats makes a lovely dessert. With soft, sweet pears, and a crunchy, buttery, gluten free topping, it's also quick and easy to make.
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Why you'll love about this healthy recipe
- Healthy pear crumble (also known as pear crisp) is easy to make with just 6 everyday ingredients
- With wholegrain oats and pears, this healthy crumble is nutritious and high in fibre
- Naturally gluten free, the oat crumble topping is made without flour
- Low in added sugar - there's just 1 tablespoon of sugar in this healthy pear crumble
- Delicious enough for weekend guests, easy enough for midweek meals
Ingredients for healthy pear crumble
Pears. You can use any variety of dessert pears for this healthy pear crumble. It's best if the pears are ripe as they'll be sweeter and cook to a nicer texture. If your pears are harder, you'll need to cook the crumble for a little longer so that they soften.
Love pears? You might also like these stewed pears without sugar.
Cinnamon is optional in the recipe, but cinnamon and pear crumble is a good mix! You could also use ground ginger or cardamom which go very well with pear. Or omit the spice altogether.
Oats. You'll need oats which have some texture to make a good crumble. Porridge oats, old fashioned oats and rolled oats are all suitable.
You could also use jumbo oats if you prefer a chunkier texture. Instant oats are too fine.
Make sure that the oats are certified gluten free so that they haven't been contaminated by gluten at the factory.
There's no flour in this gluten-free pear crumble recipe.
Ground almonds. I like adding almonds to a crumble topping. They make the crumble extra crisp and buttery, and are very nutritious.
If you want the recipe to be nut-free, omit the almonds and use an extra 50 g of oats.
You could also use other nuts if you prefer such as walnuts. Just blitz them in the food processor before adding the other ingredients.
Butter. Make sure that the butter is at room temperature so that it mixes in easily.
Sugar. Healthy pear crumble is very low in added sugar because the pears will be naturally sweet.
There's just one tablespoonful of sugar added to the crumble topping. You can use brown or white sugar.
If you prefer, you can make a sugar free crumble.
Variations
If you want to vary the recipe slightly, try a healthy pear and raspberry crumble or pear and blackberry crumble. Just add a handful of the berries to the chopped pears in the dish.
You can use use a dairy free crumble topping if needed.
How to make healthy pear crumble
It's best to make the crumble topping first so that the fruit doesn't discolour.
Add the oats, ground almonds, butter and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse gently until it starts to clump together. Don't over process, otherwise the oats will lose their texture.
If you don't want to use a food processor, melt the butter and stir the crumble ingredients together.
Depending on the thickness of the skins, you might want to peel the pears. You'll lose some of the fibre and nutrients when you peel fruit, but if the skins are tough it might spoil the crumble.
Quarter the pears, remove the sliver of core and cut into bite sized pieces. Place in the baking dish and sprinkle on the spice if using.
Add the crumble topping and spread evenly over the fruit.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees (160 fan) for 30 minutes. If necessary turn the dish partway through cooking so that it browns evenly.
The topping should be golden and crisp.
You'll need an oven proof dish approximately 15 x 20 cm for this quantity of mixture. Or you can use individual dishes if you prefer.
Serving and storage
Enjoy this healthy gluten-free pear crumble warm or cold. It goes especially well with homemade custard, but you could also serve it with cream, ice cream or yogurt.
You can store leftover crumble in the fridge for 3 or 4 days.
Frequently asked questions
Many crumble toppings are made with wheat flour which contains gluten. However, it's easy to make a gluten free pear crumble. This recipe uses certified gluten free oats, but of course you could also use a recipe with a gluten free flour blend.
If you have a pear tree, you'll know that pears tend to ripen all at once, leaving you with a glut. Storing pears in the fridge will help to slow down the ripening process so that they'll keep for longer.
You can also freeze pears. Peel, core and slice or dice, and freeze on a tray before storing in sealed plastic bags.
As well as this crumble, you could also make stewed pears, pear flapjacks or a quick pear and walnut chutney.
Make sure that you weigh your ingredients carefully so that you have the right proportion of oats and butter. Pulse the ingredients gently so that they retain plenty of texture.
This healthy recipe with oats and ground almonds has a nice crisp texture, but it will soften as it cools down.
Other healthy crumble recipes
Enjoy a healthy crumble at other times of the year with these seasonal gluten free desserts.
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Recipe
Healthy Pear Crumble (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- Ovenproof baking dish, approx 15 x 20 cm Or use individual ovenproof dishes
Ingredients
- 6-8 pears approx 500 g
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon or use ¼ teaspoon ground ginger or cardamom
- 100 g porridge or rolled oats
- 50 g ground almonds or use an extra 50 g oats
- 50 g butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon sugar, white or brown
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan)
- Add the oats, ground almonds, butter and sugar to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse gently until the butter is mixed in.100 g porridge or rolled oats, 50 g ground almonds , 50 g butter, 1 tbsp sugar, white or brown
- Peel and core the pears and cut into bite sized pieces. Place in the baking dish and sprinkle over the spice if using.6-8 pears, ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Add the oat crumble topping to the fruit and spread over evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn partway if necessary. Check that the pears are fully cooked with the point of a knife. They should be soft to the touch, and the top golden and crispy.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
Patrizia says
Love how you repeat the ingredients and their measures in the procedure section so I don't have to scroll up and down constantly. Great recipe.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you, it's good to have feedback that it is useful:)