Our family loved apple crisp growing up.  I can still recall the taste of it – So sweet.  When I got older and started making it myself, I started to cringe at the amount of sugar is used in recipes these days.  This revamped recipe calls for pears for the sole reason that I didn’t have any apples and didn’t want to go to the store.  This recipe has 3 tbsp of maple syrup instead of the TWO CUPS of sugar the original called for…yikes.

If you choose not to make salted caramel sauce, I would recommend doubling the amount of crumble.  I went light on it knowing that I was going to pour a little extra sugar on top, and the result was perfect.

Pear Crisp

Filling:

• 6 cups chopped organic Bosc pears
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup almond four
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp coconut milk powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 tsp almond extract

Salted Caramel Sauce

• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp vanilla powder
• 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt

Cut up the pears and mix in 1 tsp cinnamon.  Pour into an 8×8 inch pan.

For the topping, place all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well, melting the coconut beforehand in a pan if need be.

Using your fingers, drop the topping mixture on top of the pears.

For the salted caramel sauce, if you’re lucky enough to have runny almond butter, just mix the ingredients in a bowl.  Otherwise, place all ingredients in a blender.  If your sauce isn’t runny, add more coconut milk to thin it out.