Baked Champagne Pears with Oat Almond Crumble

These Baked Champagne Pears with Oat Almond Crumble are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving menu! They’re super easy, so quick, and one of the tastiest desserts we’ve made all fall!

When it comes to desserts in our household, we generally don’t stray too far from one of two categories – cookies, or pie. I’m just not really an ice cream person (unless it’s the topping on a pie or sandwiched between two cookies), there are only a handful of cakes I enjoy, and candy, honestly, just isn’t worth it to me. There are some exceptions to the rule, like when I have a random craving for starbursts, or just have to have a slice of this easy buttermilk cake, but more times than not, when I get a hankering to whip up a homemade dessert it’s a chocolate chip cookie or some variation on a coconut cream pie.

Today’s dessert however, seems to fall in a category on its own. With a crisp topping and a pear bottom, it’s not really a pie, it’s not a cookie, and it’s most definitely not candy. All I can confirm, is that it’s probably my favorite dessert I’ve made all fall, which means I’ve added another category of desserts to the list of favorites.

To start, halved and cored pears are nestled into a baking dish and then covered in a mixture of sparkling wine and a little bit of honey. You really just need any flavorful liquid to help keep the pears moist, but because this dessert is geared towards the holidays and I had an open bottle of champs in the fridge (because that’s how I roll), I thought it only appropriate to use the bubbly.

If your pears are a little on the hard side (which mine were), I’d recommend covering them in foil and baking them for a little bit before you add the crumb topping.

The crumb topping, by the way, is SO good, and so simple. Just a little bit of flour, quick-cooking oats, brown sugar, and salt are whisked together for the base of the crisp. Unsalted butter and a couple teaspoons of almond extract are then added, and you can either use your fingers (which I did) or a fork to blend it in with all of the dry ingredients. From there, you evenly divide the topping between the pears, pop the whole dish bake in the oven, and just wait for the butter, flour and oats to crisp up.

Once they’re hot out of the oven, a big scoop of vanilla ice cream is placed on top, they’re sprinkled with salted, roasted almonds, and ready to be devoured!