Created in a collaboration with Sandra Enos, Board Member, and Keith Cooper, Executive Director.
This is an easy recipe, not too sweet, that showcases the tartness of the apples and fully-ripened Anjou pears. Beautiful Day granolas make this especially easy to assemble. It is a dessert that showcases the fruit, the grains, the dried fruits, and nuts.
Apple Pear Filling:
5 Granny Smith, Pink Lady, or other tart baking apples
4 ripened Anjou pears
1/3 – 1/2 cup brown sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apple cider
Optional: 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons kirsch, 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Granola Topping:
1 stick cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (brown or white)
1/4 teaspoon salt (skip if using salted butter)
1 bag Beautiful Day granola or muesli (You may want to experiment with the flavor of the month; I tried the Mango Pomegranate and it was a hit with my family and friends).
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Simmer cider in a saucepan while you are chopping the fruit until it is reduced to about 1/3 of a cup. Core, peel and slice apples and pears into one standard size so that everything cooks evenly. Toss in a large bowl with cinnamon, brown sugar optional spices and extracts and the reduced cider. Mix to coat. Put this mixture into a rectangular pan about 8 by 12 inches and bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
While the fruit bakes, pulse flour with salt (if using) and sugar in a standard food processor to mix, then add cold butter and pulse until it is the texture of course meal. Add the bag of granola and pulse just 2-3 times. It should be crumbly but not fine. The fruit and nuts should stay mostly intact.
Remove fruit from the oven (the liquid should be starting to boil). Stir to coat the fruit. Squeeze the topping a bit with your fingers so it clumps as you spread it over the apples and pears mixture.
Reduce oven to 350, then return dish to the oven and bake an additional 20-25 minutes until the topping is brown and fruit is bubbling and turning gold. Let stand for 10 minutes and serve with ice cream, if desired.
Serves 8 full servings.