This gluten-free pear crumble is gooey, comforting, and tastes like fall. The pears are tossed in ground cinnamon and cardamom and topped with a buttery, gluten-free crumble. Such an easy pear recipe!
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok or by subscribing to my newsletter.
Pears are often overlooked, but they make a great fall crumble. Gluten-free pear crumble is a great dessert in the colder months starting in October. I get all the fall feels from this recipe! It can be easily made completely vegan, too. It's one of my favorite gluten-free desserts because it's just as good hot as it is at room temperature! I love it!
This pear crumble recipe was inspired by my healthy (ish) single-serve blueberry crumble and my small batch blueberry muffins.
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Tips for making a pear crumble
- Cut the pears in half and then dice them. This ensures that each pear is equally cooked and caramelized in the oven. That caramelization makes for the best gluten-free pear dessert.
- You don't need to peel in the pears before baking them. The skin adds some nice texture to the crumble!
- Make sure to bake the crumble for the full 25 minutes. The crumble needs to start bubbling so the corn starch can activate and soak up some of the juices.
What kind of pears are best for crumble?
Any kind of pears will work. For example, my grocery store only had green anjou pears, but you can use any kind of pear you would like. Or, feel free to mix and match pears, too. Other pear varieties include red anjou, bosc, bartlett, red bartlett, taylor's gold, concorde, and conference.
Crisp vs. Crumble
A crumble is made the same way as a crisp, except crisp calls for oats in the topping. A crumble streusel doesn't usually have nuts or oats and has bigger crumbles than crisp recipes. A pear crisp recipe would have oats in it and the topping would be more crumbly.
Ingredients
- Pears: I use green anjou pears for this crumble recipe. Make sure they are medium pears.
- Orange juice: I like to add citrus to balance out the sugar.
- Brown sugar: gives more depth than granulated sugar
- Gluten-free flour: I used King Arthur's gluten-free flour.
- Almond flour: I like the texture of almond flour.
- Butter: unsalted, cold
- Cornstarch: gives the pear mixture more body.
- Salt
- Spices: ground cardamom and ground ginger.
- Vanilla extract: always a necessity!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place four 6-ounce round ramekins on a baking sheet.
Cube the pears into 1-inch pieces and put in a medium mixing bowl. Add the corn starch, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, vanilla extract, and orange juice. Mix together.
Spoon the pear filling mixture evenly into the four ramekins. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, add the cold butter, almond flour, gluten-free flour, salt, and brown sugar. Use your hands to work the mixture until it looks like a crumbly mixture.
Use your hands to top each ramekin with ½ cup crumble.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. The crumble topping will be golden brown.
Let cool for 5 minutes before enjoying. Top with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
Hint: you can also use one large baking dish instead of individual ramekins. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes if you're using one large baking dish.
Substitutions
- Gluten-free flour - instead of King Arthur's GF flour, you can use regular flour. For this recipe, it works. You can also use oat flour instead, but make sure that the oats flour is made from gluten-free oats. Bob's Red Mill makes a great option.
- Orange Juice - use lemon juice instead of orange juice.
- Vanilla Extract - use almond extract instead of vanilla extract.
- Coconut oil - use coconut oil instead of butter to make this recipe vegan. You can also use vegan butter to make this recipe vegan.
- Brown sugar - you can substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar.
Variations
- Apple - add 1 cup cubed apples to the pear mixture for gluten-free apple pear crumble.
- Nutty - add ¼ cup chopped walnuts to the pear mixture for gluten-free apple pear crumble.
- Whipped Cream - top the crumble with fresh whipped cream.
- Maple syrup - add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup to the pear filling mixture before baking for a nutty, warm flavor.
See this single serve blueberry crumble on my website!
How to make vegan gluten-free pear crumble
It's easy to make this gluten-free pear recipe vegan. Simply replace the butter with either vegan butter (I like miyoko's) or coconut oil. Then, top with coconut whipped cream and vegan ice cream.
Equipment
Storage
Let the pear crumble cool completely, then cover with a towel and wrap in plastic wrap. Either leave the crumble at room temperature, covered, for up to two days. Or, refrigerate for up to five days.
To freeze, cover the pear crumble with a paper towel, wrap in plastic wrap, place in a freezer-safe plastic bag, and freeze for up to three months.
Top tip
Make sure to cook the crumble for the full 25 minutes to allow the corn starch to thicken the juices.
The BEST gluten-free pear crumble (vegan option)
Ingredients
Crumble
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup gluten-free flour I use King Arthur's
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2 medium pears cubed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place four 6-ounce round ramekins on a baking sheet.
- Cube the pears into 1-inch pieces and put in a medium mixing bowl. Add the corn starch, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, vanilla extract, and orange juice. Mix together.
- Spoon the pear filling mixture evenly into the four ramekins. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the cold butter, almond flour, gluten-free flour, salt, and brown sugar. Use your hands to work the mixture until it looks like a crumbly mixture.
- Use your hands to top each ramekin with ½ cup crumble.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. The crumble topping will be golden brown.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before enjoying. Top with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
Notes
FAQ
Any kind of pears will work for pear cobbler. Pear varieties include red anjou, bosc, bartlett, red bartlett, taylor's gold, concorde, and conference.
Serve pear crumble with vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream. Or, serve it plain and piping hot from the oven!
A buckle is made by pouring batter on the bottom of a warm baking dish and topping it with fruit. It is more like a cake. A crumble is topped with a streusel topping and is more about the fruit.
A fruit crumble doesn't need to be refrigerated. It can last at room temperature for up to two days. But, the crumble will keep in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok or by subscribing to my newsletter.
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