Things that require little effort are said to be “easy as pie.” How then, to describe the crumble, or crisp, as it's sometimes known? This fruit filled dessert with a rolled oat topping is so simple to make, and quick to bake, that it's even easier than pie. And the end result is ridiculously good and healthy.

A crumble is a kind of pie without the crust, which saves both time and calories. The filling is usually some combination of apples, pears, or cranberries, mixed with a bit of sugar, orange juice and spices. The granola-like topping always includes old-fashioned rolled oats and brown sugar, and sometimes a little butter, or oil, and nuts.

Fresh cranberries are widely available at the moment, and their tart flavor contrasts nicely with sweet, ripened pears, so I combined the two and topped them with rolled oats, spiced pecans and crystallized ginger. I went easy on the sugar and opted not to put any butter or oil in the topping since the nuts already provide plenty of fat.

The crumble made for a fine ending to a meal of Matt's equally effortless yet delicious slow cooked Asian short ribs. You've got to love recipes that are this quick and easy to whip up, but good enough to impress guests; ours cleaned their plates and agreed the crumble had just the right mix of sweet and tart.

Cranberry Pear Crumble:

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup granulated brown sugar

1 Tbs cornstarch

1 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp allspice

1 tsp vanilla

12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries

2 large, ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbs chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bring the orange juice to a boil in a medium saucepan, add sugar, cornstarch, spices, vanilla, and cranberries. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, till cranberries start to pop, stirring frequently.

While the cranberries are cooking, combine the oats, sugar, nuts, and ginger in a bowl. If you like, you can put the topping in a food processor and pulse till the mixture resembles crumbs (I like the finer texture this gives the topping, but it's not necessary, so if you don't have a food processor, don't let that stop you.)

Remove from heat and stir in the pears. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Add the topping, and bake for about 20 minutes, till the top browns a bit and the filling starts to bubble.

Image credit: Women baking – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540