Date: · Updated: Author: Sharon Rigsby
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This easy homemade Pear Pie recipe combines the sweet and tender flavors of baked pears infused with cinnamon and nutmeg with a flakey buttery crust. It’s how dessert dreams are made!
A sweet friend recently dropped off a bag of fresh pears from their farm. And my mouth started watering just thinking about the pie I was going to make. When life hands you a bag of pears, well, you have to make a pear pie! I think it’s a rule of nature!
You’ve never tasted a pear pie? How can that be? We need to remedy that right now. With a purchased crust, there is nothing easier to make. Peel and slice some fresh pears. Mix them with a little sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and lemon juice and pour them into a prepared crust. Bake and voilà, pear pie!
A close cousin to apple pie, pear pie takes the best of summer’s fresh pears and turns them into a luscious dessert that will have you coming back for more. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, and you have a dessert that your company will rave about!
What kind of pears to use?
The best pears are the old-fashioned, hard sand pears you probably remember from your youth or backyard pear tree. Barlett pears which are firm and not too ripe, also work well. You want a pear that doesn’t give when it is squeezed softly. If your pears are soft, they will be mushy after baking. The softer pears will also give off too much juice, which will cause your crust to be soggy.
How to make it:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place one crust in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Smooth out when your fingers so that it covers the bottom and sides of the dish.
Add the pears, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, lemon juice, and nutmeg to a large bowl. Gently stir all ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed.
Pour into the prepared crust. Spread the filling out evenly.
Top with the second crust. Gently fold the excess top crust over and under the sides of the bottom crust and press edges together to seal. You should have an even double roll of crust around the top.
To flute the crust, use one finger to push the inner edge out while pinching the outer edge in with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Repeat around the entire edge. Alternatively, you can take a fork and press the tines around the edge of the crust to seal it.
Cut several slits in the top crust.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place strips of aluminum foil around the crust edges to keep it from browning too fast. Bake for another 20-25 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for at least two hours before serving.
Sharon’s Expert Tips:
- If you need help fluting the crust, check out this short instructional video.
- This recipe is best when made with hard or firm, slightly underripe pears.
- Do not make the filling ahead of time. The pears will turn brown and will give off too much juice, which will result in a soggy crust.
- You can use a frozen unbaked deep-dish shell if you do not want a top crust. If you do, you can top the pears with a streusel mixture consisting of ⅓ cup flour, ⅓ cup brown sugar, and three tablespoons cold butter. Mix the streusel ingredients with a fork and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pears — bake as directed.
- Instead of using aluminum foil to keep your crust from burning, crust shields can be purchased, which you can reuse.
This recipe calls for a 9-inch pie plate, and all I had was a dish that measured 9.5 inches at the top. Because of this, my bottom crust wasn’t large enough to extend past the edge of the dish. Consequently, I didn’t have enough overlap to produce a pretty fluted edge. Of course, it still tasted the same, but the crust edges weren’t as pretty as they could have been.
More dessert recipes with fruit:
If you like easy dessert recipes with fresh fruit or berries, you might also be interested in these popular recipes on my blog:
- Old Fashioned Strawberry Pie
- The Best Kumquat Pie
- Southern Style Easy Fresh Peach Pie
- Classic Southern Style Blackberry Pie
- Southern Peach Cobbler
- Classic Southern Strawberry Shortcake, and
- Strawberry Trifle with Angel Food Cake
- Old-fashioned Blackberry Pie
Need more dessert ideas? Check out all of my dessert recipes here.
★ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and give it a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
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Pear Pie Recipe
Sharon Rigsby
Imagine a delicious homemade pear pie, laced with a flakey buttery crust and a juicy, cinnamon and nutmeg infused fresh pear pie filling. It is the stuff dessert dreams are made of.
5 from 6 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Time to Cool 2 hours hrs
Total Time 3 hours hrs
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, Southern
Servings 8 servings
Calories 246 kcal
Ingredients
- 6 cups thinly sliced pears peeled, about 6-7 medium-size pears
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 pkg refrigerated pie crusts You need two crusts
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Place one crust in an ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Smooth out when your fingers so that it covers the bottom and sides of the dish.
Add the pears, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, lemon juice, and nutmeg to a large bowl. Gently stir all ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed. Pour into the prepared pie crust. Spread the filling out evenly.
Top with the second crust. Gently fold the excess top crust over and under the sides of the bottom crust and press edges together to seal. You should have an even double roll of pie crust around the top.
To flute, the pie crust, use one finger to push the inner edge out while pinching the outer edge in with the thumb and index finger of the other hand. Repeat around the entire edge of the pie. Alternatively, you can take a fork and press the tines around the entire edge of the pie to seal the crust.
Cut several slits in the top crust.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place strips of aluminum foil around the pie crust edge to keep it from browning too fast. Bake for another 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least two hours before serving.
Notes
Sharon's Expert Tips:
- This recipe is best when made with hard or firm slightly underripe pears.
- Do not make the pie filling ahead of time. The pears will turn brown and will give off too much juice, which will result in a soggy crust.
- You can use a frozen unbaked deep-dish pie shell if you do not want a top crust. If you do, you can top the pears with a streusel mixture consisting of ⅓ cup flour, ⅓ cup brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons cold butter. Mix the streusel ingredients with a fork and sprinkle evenly over the top of the pears — bake as directed.
- If you need help fluting the pie crust, check out this short instructional video.
- Instead of using aluminum foil to keep your crust from burning, pie crust shields can be purchased, which you can reuse.
- This recipe calls for a 9-inch pie plate and all I had was a dish that measured 9.5 inches at the top. Because of this, my bottom crust wasn't large enough to extend past the edge of the dish. Consequently, I didn't have enough overlap to produce a pretty fluted edge. Of course, the pie still tasted the same, but the crust edges weren't as pretty as they could have been.
Nutrition
Calories: 246kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 2gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 161mgPotassium: 161mgFiber: 4gSugar: 31gVitamin A: 30IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg
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