Healthy Pear Crumble

This healthy pear crumble combines cinnamon flavored pears with the vanilla ice cream of your choice and a simple gluten free granola. The perfect dessert for one, you can whip this up in less than 5 minutes. 

A 5 Minute Dessert

So why make this recipe? Because it’s easy to do in a pinch if you have company or want something fast, sweet, and a little more health conscious!

• This is the easiest crumble you will make and just takes 5 minutes of cooking the pears.
• It can be made dairy free, gluten free, and migraine diet friendly for those with food sensitivities.
• This recipe only has 5 ingredients, especially if you keep granola on hand. 
• It’s a healthier dessert! Because pears are high in fiber and lower in calories, they’ve been shown to help patients lose weight while containing anti-inflammatory properties.

Ingredients

Pears – Most types of pears will work well for this easy pear crisp. You could even substitute apples. I went with Comice pears from Harry and David, but Bartlett would be good too. Go with whatever your personal favorite is! 

Granola – This healthy pear crumble recipe is made 1000x easier by using your own granola that you might have leftover from breakfast. This means no baking is required! If I have the time, I’ll use my favorite buckwheat or seed granola. 

Looking for a good store-bought brand? My favorite nut free granolas are 88 Acres and Nature’s Path. 

Ice Cream – When it comes to a healthy ice cream, put down that Halo Top. You might think it’s really good cause it’s fewer calories and protein, but in reality it’s overly processed with gums and faux sweeteners. Time has an interesting article, where they explore how some people might think this is the best ice cream, but it comes down to what ingredients are healthy in your mind. My personal goal is to eat as clean as possible with minimal ingredients. You want to look for ingredients you can pronounce.

Haagen Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream has all 6 ingredients that you would expect in ice cream. No gums, carrageenan, whey, or faux sweeteners in this one. McConnell’s Sweet Cream and Vanilla Bean ice creams are migraine diet safe. At $12 a pop, it’s not cheap, but you do get what you pay for as far as clean ingredients. 

Jeni’s ice cream can be found at Whole Foods and specialty stores. I’m a big fan of their Brambleberry Crisp, a combination of blackberries and blackcurrants in vanilla ice cream. They’re also $12 for a pint, so it’s a splurge every once in a while type ice cream.

How to Make a Pear Crumble

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Start by chopping the pears into bite sized pieces. In a small, non-stick pan, melt a tablespoon of butter or oil over medium heat and add the chopped pears, cooking until lightly brown on all sides. Watch this carefully because they will burn! Once browned, you can coat them in the 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. 

While the pears are still warm, scoop the vanilla ice cream and place on top of the pears, then cover with the granola. 

Recipe Tips

• Keep the heat on medium at the highest so the pears soften while cooking but don’t get burned. 
• Don’t have granola? Salted pepitas add a bit of crunch without having to buy or make granola. 
• If you cannot tolerate cinnamon, try using another spice like cardamom or nutmeg. Start with just a pinch to make sure you like the flavor, then you can add up to 1/4 teaspoon to coat the pears.
• If you don’t have pears on hand, this recipe will also work with apples!

Other Healthy Pear Recipes

For more healthy recipes that use pears, check out these posts.
Pear and Arugula Salad
Pear and Ginger Smoothie
Pear Nojito
Pear Clafouti

If you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me #thedizzycook or @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram. And please leave a review below! This post was updated on April 20, 2021 with new pictures and dairy free tips.