Pear Pie Filling Recipe

Brown sugar, warm spices, and a touch of fresh lemon juice enhance pear for the perfect pie filling. This easy recipe beautifully accentuates pears' natural flavor notes of vanilla and caramel without overpowering them. It's great for making pie or pairing with yogurt, oatmeal, or ice cream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Pear Pie Filling, Pear Pie Filling Recipe

Prep Time 18

Cook Time 12

Cool Time: 2

Servings servings

Calories 167kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

8 cups sliced pears (3 pounds of fresh, ripe pears; peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick slices; see Notes for what kind of pears)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 4 tablespoons cold water to form a slurry)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (at room temperature)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prep. Wash the pears, then peel them, core them, and slice them into 1/4 to 1/8-inch thick slices.
Cook. Add the pear slices and brown sugar to a large pot over medium heat, and toss to coat. Cover the pot and cook until the pears start to soften and the volume reduces by approximately half, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Add the spices. Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and cornstarch slurry. Cook until thickened, gently stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
Finishing touches. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter.
Cool. Cover and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. (TIP: Make sure to cover the pot so the filling doesn't thicken too much as the liquid evaporates during the cooling process.) After 2 hours you can make the pie, or store the filling in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Notes

Recipe Yield: This recipe makes enough filling for 1 standard 9-inch round pie.
Nutritional Information: The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated based on 8 servings.
Pears: I've tested this recipe multiple times after developing it, and my favorite way to make it is with a variety of pears. They add subtly different flavor nuances and different textures, and come together for a truly great pie filling. I recommend about 1/3 ripe Bosc pears (which are dense, crisp, and not quite as sweet as other varieties), 1/3 ripe Bartlett pears (which are buttery-smooth and intensely pear-flavored with notes of honey, but can turn mushy if they're extremely ripe or cooked too long), and 1/3 ripe Concorde pears (which are firm and sweet with notes of vanilla) or 1/3 Anjou if you can't find Concorde.
Storage: Cool to room temperature, and then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Nutrition