I wish I had a candle that smelled like this pie. The subtle aroma of rosemary, sweet, juicy pears and sugary butter – there’s nothing quite like it. I guess it’s time to transition into the mindset of September, although I can’t get too ahead of myself because it’s still 80 degrees around here 🙂 but nothing says Fall more than a pie, right?!

How was your Labor Day? I’m happy to be back to blogging after the long weekend. So many fun things are ahead and I can’t help but be excited for the new season. I could totally go from summer to fall to spring and then back to summer and skip winter altogether. Doesn’t that sound way better?! I went to our family lake house in Wisconsin over the holiday weekend, and on one of the cloudy days, I was perusing through all kinds of recipes online with my mom. When I lived at home, I used to help her cook every night so we love getting inspired with new recipes to try. Nowadays, I can look at almost any recipe and figure out how to make it vegan. Love that! Get ready for some irresistible fall recipes to come. My mind was flowing with ideas and good thing I wrote all of them down or else I would forget those yummy thoughts. We looked at soups, stews, roasted fall vegetables and oh-so many desserts. Later on, we did make my Simple Greek Veggie Salad too, except we added pasta, broccoli and sunflower seeds. Everyone loved it!

After looking at all the ideas I wrote down, I knew I wanted to bake a dessert. I’ve never baked a vegan pie before! My inspiration led to this ah-mazing pie crisp (I don’t know if “pie crisp” is a real baking term or what but it describes this dessert perfectly) I’m sharing today. I had a slice for breakfast this morning – totally acceptable. This pie is bursting with pears smothered in a crispy, golden, crunchy, sugary, buttery topping. Yes, buttery. I used vegan butter which tastes the same as regular butter. Trust me. It has the same consistency and has to be the easiest swap for a vegan alternative ever. I used the Earth Balance stick butter. I also made life easier and used a store-bought gluten-free pie crust from Whole Foods in the freezer section. This simple recipe is a nice way to ease back into baking and using the oven again after the hot summer.

While the rosemary in this pie is subtle and not overpowering, it enhances the entire final product in the best way. I used fresh rosemary from my parents garden and I think I could smell it all day. While it’s baking, your entire house will have the most amazing aroma, like the sweet scent of freshly baked goods at the bakery. And you really can’t mess this recipe up. It couldn’t be any easier! Peel and chop the pears into bite-size pieces, mix them in a bowl with lemon juice and rosemary and add to pie crust, combine brown sugar, oats, butter, flour and salt with a fork (or your hands like me) sprinkle over the pears and bake!

I paired it with hot coffee, fresh fruit and yogurt. Dessert for breakfast! For an actual dessert, it would be amazing topped with a scoop of vegan ice cream.

Rosemary Pear Pie Crisp

Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 40
Total Time: 55

Scale

Ingredients

4 pears
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (about 2 sprigs)
1 store-bought pie crust (I used a vegan, gluten-free kind from Whole Foods)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup flour (I used oat flour)
1/4 cup vegan butter
pinch of sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel and chop pears into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, combine pears, lemon juice and rosemary. Toss together, pour into pie crust and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, rolled oats, flour, butter and salt. Mix together with a fork or your hands until well combined. Sprinkle mixture over pears evenly.
Bake in oven for about 40 minutes, until crust and topping turns golden brown.
Enjoy!