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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHAT YOU GET: Pear Pie is a truly simple and delicious dessert! Made with juicy, succulent pears and homemade pie crust, this perfectly flakey pie will become your new fall favorite.
Fall means baking your favorite warm dessert for a lot of people — and during the season, that typically means apple or pumpkin desserts. While I, of course, love a good apple or pumpkin treat, I feel like pears, which are also in season, get a bit forgotten!
I’d love to introduce you to a super easy pear pie recipe. My flakey fresh pear pie is bursting with fresh pear flavors, complimented by warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, all tucked inside my delicious, flakey, buttery Homemade Pie Crust.
Take full advantage of pear season with this delicious fruit pie! It may just replace apple pie as your favorite fall-inspired dessert.
What Are The Best Pears For Baking?
You can use any ripe but still firm pear for pear pie, but I find Anjou or Bosc pears are the best for baking. These types of pears both hold their form while being baked, which means you’ll get wonderfully different textures in every bite, and you won’t get a mushy pie with a possible soggy bottom.
Do I Need To Peel Pears Before Baking?
You should always opt to take the extra time to peel your pears before you bake them into a pie. When you heat pears, their skins get extra tough, which isn’t pleasant to bite through.
How To Pick The Best Pears
Unlike a lot of fruit that should be harvested when they are at peak ripeness, pears need time to ripen off the vine. Pears that are allowed to ripen still on the vine tend to become woody or mealy in texture; however, pears that you allow to ripen on your counter become sweet and soft.
So when you are shopping for your pears, either at your farmers market or your local grocery store, look for pears that are still firm. You can’t tell if a pear is ripe just by looking at it — because pears ripen inside before they show any sign of riping outside. To tell when a pear is ripe, gently press near the stem. If it gives slightly, it is ripe and ready to eat and bake!
However, baking fruit is always forgiving. You don’t need the best, peak-season, perfectly ripe pears to make a good pie!
Tools You Need To Make Homemade Pear Pie
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Baking sheet
- 9-inch (23 cm) pie tin
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Fresh Pear Pie
- Make sure the pie crust stays cold and work it as little as possible for the flakiest results.
- Don’t forget to bake this pie on a foil-lined baking sheet to avoid big oven messes!
- Instead of cutouts, you can top this pie with another rolled-out pastry. Be sure to cut out a few vent holes on top.
- Add 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root to the filling for a nice variation.
- Serve this pie with a side of Crème Fraiche Whipped Cream!
Want More Fall Dessert Recipes?
- Spiced Apple Cake With Honey Caramel Sauce
- The Incredible Pumpkin Slab Pie
- The Perfect Classic Apple Pie Recipe
- Perfect Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
- The Most Elegant Poached Pears Recipe
Try These Recipes!
Easy Pear Pie
Ingredients
- 8 ripe but firm pears (about 3½ lbs/1588 g)
- ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (1¼ oz/35 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 recipes Best Ever Pie Crust, chilled
- 1 tablespoon (½ oz/14 g) butter, diced
- Egg wash
- Whipped cream, for serving, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside.
- Peel, core, and slice the pears ¼-inch (6-mm) thick and add to a large bowl as you go.
- Stir in ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) sugar, the flour, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and set aside.
- On a floured surface, roll out one of the pie crusts to a ¼-inch (6-mm) thick circle and line a 9-inch (23-cm) pie tin with it. Trim the edges to hang about ½ inch (12 mm) over the sides, then fold to the edge and crimp.
- Fill the crust with the pear mixture and dot all over with the butter.
- Roll out the second crust to ¼-inch (6-mm) thick and use a 1-inch (2½-cm) cookie cutter of your choice to cut the crust into as many pieces as you can. Lay the cutouts, slightly overlapping, all over the tops of the pears.
- Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.
- Place the pie on the prepared baking sheet and bake on the bottom rack of the oven for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling over. (If the crust starts to over brown before the filling is done, cover loosely with foil for the remainder of the baking time.)
- Let cool at room temperature for 4 hours, then serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you wish!
- Store, loosely covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.
