Spiced Pear Pie in a Sourdough Crust

The perfect end to dinner, this sweet and spiced pear pie is a true delight with an especially flaky sourdough crust.

I feel like pumpkin, apple, and pear are The Big Three of the fall baking fruits (if you count pumpkin as a fruit). But I feel like pears don’t get as much limelight as apples and pumpkins. Which is such a shame: they’re one of my all-time favorite fruits!

I decided to buy half a lug of pears from my mom. And I’m so glad that I did! Even though they were seconds, they had an amazing flavor and texture. We had them plain, with whipped cream (SO good), in a Pear Dutch Baby, and (of course) this Spiced Pear Pie.

BTW – I used my Sourdough Pie Crust for this recipe. You wouldn’t know it was made with a sourdough starter from the taste, but it makes the crust so delightfully flaky.

My biggest tip for success with lattice crusts is to freeze your strips of pie dough on a cookie sheet before attempting the weave. It makes it a lot easier to work with!

See Also

Lemon Meringue Fudge Pie

Serve with a (large) dollop of homemade whipped cream. This is the perfect end to a fall meal. Or you could eat if for breakfast: no judgement!

Click here for the sourdough crust recipe.

Spiced Pear Pie in a Sourdough Crust

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• Author: Erica Lea
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Dessert, Pie

Ingredients

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• 1 recipe for a double-crust sourdough pie crust (link above)
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 pinch cardamom
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp unrefined cane sugar (divided)
• 1/8 tsp unrefined salt
• 2 1/2 pounds ripe but still firm pears (cored and thinly sliced (about 10 small pears))
• 1 tbsp heavy cream (for brushing crust)
• homemade whipped cream (for serving, optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. In a large bowl, toss the pears with the vanilla and flour/spice mixture.
3. Roll out half of the pie dough and line a pie dish with it. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar over the bottom of the crust. Pour the pear mixture on top. Roll out the other half of the pie dough and place it on top of the crust. Trim and crimp the edges.
4. Brush the top of the crust with the heavy cream. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet.
5. Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 50-60 minutes. Tent with foil or a pie crust shield if the crust browns too quickly before the pie is done baking.
6. Remove from oven and cool in the pie pan on a cooling rack for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Notes

I drastically reduced the amount of added sugar in this spiced pear pie. In fact, there’s only 2 tablespoons in the whole pie! If you like your desserts on the sweeter side, you can up the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup. Also, the sweetness of your pears can affect how much sweetener you need to add.

Recipe adapted from epicurious.