"Just took pear crisp out of the oven," I texted my elderly friend Billie yesterday at noon. "Made it healthier. Want to watch 'Call the Midwife' this evening? I will bring dessert."

"Well, yes," she replied. "That would be great- especially the dessert part!"

To let the flavor of the pears sing, I reduced the flour, SUGAR, ginger and cinnamon. If you like it spicier, increase the cinnamon and ginger.

Pear crisp is the perfect dessert for the fall and winter season. Choose larger pears like Bartlett or Anjou, as they will hold up well to cooking temperatures.

Pear Crisp

For filling

• 6 pears, cored, peeled and sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup granulated SUGAR
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

For topping

• ½ cup packed brown SUGAR
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoon butter, chilled

Directions

For the filling, toss pears with lemon juice and ginger in a mixing bowl. Then mix together flour and SUGAR, and sprinkle over pears. Toss everything to mix the filling. Spoon into a lightly buttered baking dish.

For the crumb topping, mix together brown SUGAR, whole wheat flour, oats, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pulse dry ingredients in a food processor until crumbly.

Grate chilled butter into dry ingredients. Using a food processor or pastry blender, cut butter in mixture until crumbly. Sprinkle over pears.

Bake in 375-degree oven for 30-45 minutes until pears are tender and mixture is bubbling.

Nutritional Information (8 servings)

Per Serving: One hundred forty-five calories.

Agnostic.com has a "bug" that deletes and changes words and numbers in my posts. That's why I capitalized SUGAR and spelled out the calories. This has been a problem for over a year. I keep emailing Agnostic.com with the problem and a link to the post.