Sunday Dinner- Cranberry Pear Crisp

When I first spot cranberries in the store, I buy a bag specifically for this recipe! Cranberries really symbolizes fall and the start of the holiday season to me, so I'm filled with happiness the first time I spot those little red jewels! This recipe actually started as a pie- and it is an awesome pie- but since Matt's not a huge fan of pie crust, I changed it into a crisp. If you want to do it as a pie, all you need is one 9 in. pie crust and use a 9 in. pie pan
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Ingredients
12 oz. package cranberries
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. apple cider or apple juice, divided
5 c. pears, peeled and chunked
1/4 tsp. ginger
5 Tbs. butter, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
3Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400*. In skillet over med. heat, bring cranberries, sugar, 1/4 c. apple cider/juice to boil. Cook, covered, until slightly thickened and cranberries begin to burst. Stir in pears, ginger, 2 Tbs. butter, and salt and cook 2 more minutes. Stir cornstarch into remaining 1/4 c. apple cider/juice, and stir into cranberry pear mixture. Stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and pour into 8x8 baking dish (or into the pie crust if you're doing the pie version).

In med. bowl mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in remaining 3 Tbs. butter and mix with fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. (you can also pulse these ingredients in a food processor until crumbly.) Sprinkle over cranberry pear mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown and filling is bubbly.