I hope you all had a wonderful weekend? Pete and I had 24 hours to ourselves courtesy of Pia and Coco’s play practice and my parents. It was blissful and involved 12 hours of badly needed sleep. My God we are getting old. And now I am going to cook all day, watch the Seahawks game and somehow cram in the very important AMA’s and Malificent, which I promised the kids we could watch (is this too scary for them?? Had anyone seen this?).
Tomorrow, I am getting our Christmas Tree. Or I am going to try and get our Christmas Tree. Am I crazy? A little too early? I just can’t help it- Thanksgiving is just so late this year and it takes me a week to decorate the house (yes- I have issues) so I feel like I need to get cracking! In the mean time, lets talk about this crisp.
If you are looking for a last minute dessert idea for Thanksgiving or want to be thinking ahead for Christmas (Or even just a special weeknight dessert!) I think that this Chocolate Ginger Pear Crisp may be your dessert.
I was a lucky girl and received a beautiful box of Harry and David pears on my doorstep recently and after I used some in this salad, I decided that I couldn’t resist baking them up into a delicious dessert.
I absolutely love the combination of chocolate and pears and then the little dash of ginger gives the dish a wonderful Holiday flavor. The topping is crispy and those famous Harry and David Royal Riviera Pears are SO sweet! The result is a deep and chocolatey and completely indulgent. I served this with whipped coconut cream and it was amazing!
I am totally excited that I get to offer one of you a box of these special Harry and David pears too, just in time to enjoy them for the holidays!
To enter to win this box of pears, just leave a comment telling me what your Holiday dessert is and you will be entered! The contest is open to US residents only, and will end on Tuesday night (11/25/14) at 11:59 ET. I will post the winners here and in my Wednesday post as well as email the winners (SO be sure to leave a valid email address!!!) Ok- good luck guys!
Contest closed!! Winner Below!
| Colleen |
Submitted on 2014/11/24 at 7:59 am
I just saw a lovely recipe for pear & cranberry sauce which I thought would go really well with your pumpkin sage biscuits (as I cannot have very many cheeses, so making the gorgonzola fig spread isn’t an option for me). This year will be my first Thanksgiving traveling AND explaining my food sensitivities and the adventure I’m on to discover them. But I feel well equipped with some of your recipes in hand |
Recipe: Chocolate Ginger Pear Crisp (Gluten Free and Vegan)
Ingredients
- 8 cups fresh pears, peeled and cut into chunks
- For the Chocolate Crisp Topping:
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 2/3 cup beet or palm sugar
- 3 cups gluten free oats
- 1 cup coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, beet sugar, 3 cups oats and coconut oil.
- Using a pastry cutter or forks, cut the Coconut oil into the dry ingredients until you have a coarse crumb.
- Grease a 9×13” baking dish and fill with the pears. Sprinkle the crisp topping over the top of the fruit.
- Bake the crisp for about 45-50 minutes or until the pears are hot and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 50 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Pumpkin cheesecake!
i love the combination of chocolate + ginger + pear, and love how simply you’ve assembled it here. looks like a perfect, no-fuss dessert.
i’m so bad at picking favorites. a fond holiday treat for me is eggnog with rum. i’m looking forward to coming up with a plant-based version this season.
Homemade pecan pie!
Cake! Chocolate and peanut butter this year I think.
We always have desserts that are recipies from my grandmother that we had growing up…pecan dreams, applesauce cake and hello dollies. Then I have to add something with peppermint in it!
I can’t wait to try this recipe — pears and chocolate sound like a winning combination!
For thanksgiving I’m going to serve pumpkin pie with pecan praline sauce. I’m also thinking of doing a cranberry & chocolate cheesecake dessert.
We don’t do a lot of desserts but a family tradition is a chocolate bundt cake, soaked in a corn syrup & rum mixture, and then served with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
yep, pears and chocolate – I can totally do this for the holidays (anytime really). Love this.
Pecan pie!
I would probably roast some pears for a salad and use some for a pear and dried fruit crisp. I would love to win
Pie making just isn’t in my genes, but I truly love to eat it. So, I get an apple pie at Sam’s Club, then add a scoop of my homemade cinnamon and cardamom ice cream.
Gorgeous, gorgeous!! I’m reading this with my coffee and wondering why I can’t have it for breakfast!
PS> My tree is up. 😉
I love making rustic, free-form galettes with pears or apples – bonus points for candied ginger on the crust of the pear ones!
This looks delicious, I LOVE the chocolate crisp topping!
Pumpkin pie. Love seeing the pictures of you Christmas decorations. So beautiful.
I make two pies: Dutch Apple for my son-in-law, and pumpkin for everyone else.
Malificent isn’t too scary! I watched it on our way to London and I LOVED it!! Adore the chocolate pear combination in this crisp!!
I was planning on making a pecan pie pudding for Thanksgiving dessert! But I might switch to this because it sounds SO festive and bright! An we’ll also be featuring one of your many specialty cocktails too!
This is the first time I’ve entered a contest (ever) and I’m doing it because I’ve always wanted a Harry & David something, but it’s not exactly the type of thing that you buy for yourself!
Good luck to me!
There are so many Christmas desserts that come to mind! One of the absolute best is from a childhood neighbor who lives in England now — brown sugar macadamia meringues. Yum Yum!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Love this crisp! I will take mine with ice cream:)
I am going to try to make an apple tart this year, but I will also have my favorite German Chocolate Cake .
yea, looks delicious! My favorite is pecan pie! But everyone else’s favorite is short bread, so I make shortbread. and no it’s certainly not too early for the Christmas tree…I love Christmas, no doubt, but I love thanksgiving more because of the smell of all the dishes cooking and my family together and the Macy’s thanksgiving day parade on the TV and the kids running amuck…LOVE IT. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I love traditional pumpkin pie but I would definitely try this recipe out.
Sweet potato pie and apple cake with vanilla bean ice cream
I always make a homemade german chocolate cake and chocolate mint brownies…. with double the mint frosting!!
My favorite holiday dessert is pecan pie. I’d love to try baking with pears!
English Toffee, pecan pie apple pie pumpkin pie sweet potato pie molasses cookies etc.
My grandmother used to make what she called “Glorified Rice.” It had Rice, pineapple, cool whip, marshmallows, and maraschino cherries in it. She passed away this year at 85 years old, and she used to make this for us every Christmas. I’ll definitely be making it in her memory this Christmas.
I just saw a lovely recipe for pear & cranberry sauce which I thought would go really well with your pumpkin sage biscuits (as I cannot have very many cheeses, so making the gorgonzola fig spread isn’t an option for me). This year will be my first Thanksgiving traveling AND explaining my food sensitivities and the adventure I’m on to discover them. But I feel well equipped with some of your recipes in hand 🙂
Pumpkin walnut crunch
My favorite holiday dessert is Pumpkin Cheesecake!
Cranberry pie!
Hi, We’re having pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
Pumpkin chocolate cheesecake!
I love pear gingerbread trifle!
We have fudge pecan pie on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We never tire of it and thankfully my daughter took over the task years ago. Yum. I can hardly wait.
Apple pie with crumb topping — my husband’s favorite! Happy Thanksgiving!!
My favorite dessert on Thanksgiving is Pecan Pie. My favorite on Christmas is Chocolate cream pie with peppermint chips in the whipped cream topping.
Pecan pie. Thanks.
I am going to make a maple walnut pie, something I have never tried before. I have all the ingredients on hand and it sounds scrumptious. It is also supposed to be not too sweet, which I like.
I love all the different holiday desserts — although right now my heart is set on pumpkin pie! 🙂 This crisp sounds wonderful — thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
Pears in Autumn! How nice that you were sent a box of them.
This dessert looks—umm, a trifle dark,— but I’m taking your word for it, that it’s delicious. Can’t wait to try it —with my forthcoming box of pears.
Oh! And for Thanksgiving, I’m going to try your coconut whipped cream to go with the pumpkin pie my son-in-law is making (it’s a new generation!),
Kentucky bourbon pie!!!! Yum!
im new to cooking while avoiding allergies…wih a diabetic and a celiac to consider…so i have to ask…why coconut oil?
can i use an alternative? my daughter is sensitive to coconut,
Hi Kim, I totally understand. My daughter is celiac as well. We used coconut oil as an alternative to butter since we have dairy allergies in the house- but you could certainly substitute vegan butter or regular butter if you have no dairy issues.
Thanks. I will do that. I dont know anything about vegan butter so Ill go with what i know for now.
Nice to see the spiralizer recipe. Im looking for more…just got one and love the look. Playful way to create a vege dish!