As fall weather settles in, a desire for desserts of apples and pears seems to arise out of my subconscious.

These fall fruits are refreshing eaten fresh out of hand, but change their character in subtle ways when cooked or baked — exuding their juices, their sugars richly caramelizing, the textures softening but remaining pleasantly chewy. Pies are the natural first thought for fall desserts.

But pies are sometimes intimidating for home cooks, the issue of pie dough posing choices and challenges. Is butter or Crisco better for shortening? Is lard making a comeback? Can crusts made with oil be any good? Isn't cutting in shortening and butter more trouble than it is worth? Can I really roll out a crust and transfer it to the pan without traumatizing the crust or myself? Why not just use a prepared pie crust?

These issues can be almost totally avoided by opting instead to bake a cobbler, a crisp, a pandowdy, crumble, betty or slump — all wonderful regional appellations for satisfying, easy-to-make-desserts using the fall fruit bounty of apples, pears, late-bearing berries or cranberries.

They’re simple fruit desserts baked under a single crust, or a layer of biscuit dough, or a loose topping of flour and sugar and butter (along with chopped nuts or oatmeal), or in layers with bread crumbs and sweet spices.

For a glossary discussing the distinctions (if any) between these evocative cooking terms, see the sidebar.

Any baked fruit concoction will only be as good as the fruit one uses. Pears need to be ripe enough to be sweet, but not so ripe that peeling them results in mush. Everyone probably has a favorite apple variety, but I opted to try one of my favorite eating apples, the Honey Crisp, in all of the apple recipes below, and I was not disappointed. I think a tart apple is always better for baking than a sweet apple, and a firm-flesh, crisp apple is better than a softer, mealier variety.

PEAR-CRANBERRY CRISP

When I tested this recipe, it was too early to find fresh cranberries, so I used dried, first plumping them for 15 minutes or so in hot water. The result was excellent.

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour, divided

1/3 cup (packed) brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, softened and divided

1/3 cup toasted pecan halves, coarsely chopped

5 ripe but firm Bosc or Bartlett pears

1 cup fresh, frozen or dried cranberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons brandy

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

To make the topping: In a bowl, combine three-fourths cup flour, the brown sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or a large fork, cut in 4 tablespoons of the softened butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the chopped pecans, and toss to blend. Set aside.

Peel, quarter and core the pears, and slice lengthwise about one-half-inch thick. In a mixing bowl, toss the pears with the cranberries, lemon juice, white sugar and brandy and the remaining tablespoon of flour. Spoon the fruit mixture evenly into a 2-quart baking dish. Dot with the remaining two tablespoons of butter, and sprinkle the top evenly with the reserved topping mixture.

Bake in the middle of the oven until topping is crisp, pears are tender, and the filling beginning to bubble up, about 50-60 minutes. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serves 6 to 8.

APPLE COBBLER

Crystallized ginger can be found in many specialty food shops, including Whole Foods, Creation Gardens and Campbell’s Gourmet Cottage. I thought slicing the apples very thinly made for an excellent texture. This crust will be fairly thick after rolling out, one-fourth to one-half inch, not as thin as a pie crust.

For the filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter

3 pounds crisp, sweet-tart apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes

1/3 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup heavy cream

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 1 and one-half quart pie dish (10 inches across and 2 inches deep).

In a bowl, stir together the flour and the sugar. In a large skillet or sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat, and add the apples, lemon juice and sugar and flour mixture. Cover partially, and cook, stirring, until apples are just tender, 15 minutes or so. Stir in the vanilla, and let cool 15 to 20 minutes. Pour into the prepared pie dish.

In a new bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter, and, using a pastry blender or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, with clumps of varying sizes, from a pea to a BB. Stir in the crystallized ginger. Add the orange zest and then the cream.

Using a large fork, mix the cream into the flour until it comes together into a soft dough. Gather dough into a ball, and turn out on a well-floured work surface. Knead briefly until dough comes together, then roll out into a circle a little larger than the pie dish.

Transfer the dough to the dish, covering the apples. Trim off excess, and tuck the edges of the dough down evenly against the rim of the pie dish. Cut a small steam hole in the center. Use excess dough to cut shapes if you choose. Lightly brush the crust with cream where you want to attach the decorative shapes, then brush the whole crust with cream.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Serves 6 to 8.