When it comes to autumn, one of my favorite fruits is pears, but they do tend to ripen very quickly. Next thing you know, you have a huge pile of them that need to be used up. This roundup of 15 pear dessert recipes is designed around that exact problem. It covers everything from baked and chilled desserts to simple fruit-forward desserts.
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I like to make sure that when I entertain, it is achievable, and I love making my desserts feel and look homemade. These are designed for weeknight entertaining, and by avoiding all the labor-intensive baking projects, your guests will be impressed. And you will still have plenty of energy left afterward.
Five simple dinners. One grocery list.
No recipe hunting, no messy shopping notes, no complicated chef projects. Just family dinners that fit real weeks.
1) Simple Pear Crisp with Oat Topping
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to comp375°F.
- Toss pears with lemon juice and place them in an 8-inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle the topping over the pears.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the fruit bubbles and the top turns golden. I serve it warm with vanilla ice cream while someone reminds me where I put the spoons.
If you're stuck deciding whether to make a pie or a crisp, the crisp will usually win. It requires much less effort, and it's great for weeknights.
This really simple pear crisp with an oat topping doesn't need anything fancy. It's totally manageable. Just be careful when baking, as oat toppings can brown quite quickly. The pears can also turn to mush, so you have to take it out of the oven when it's just starting to get tender.
You can also make this with canned pears, but you'll have to adjust the time. Crisps are great desserts to make, and you don't even need an exact recipe. You can just make it by feel.
2) Easy Pear and Apple Galette
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Toss the fruit with brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon.
- Unroll the crust on the sheet. Arrange the fruit in the center, leaving a 2-inch border.
- Fold the crust edges over the fruit. Brush the crust with egg.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
If you ever feel like having a fruit pie but you don't have the energy, try making this easy pear and apple galette. It's a freeform tart and is lovely and rustic, with its apple and pear filling inside a pastry shell.
These are open-faced, and you don't even need to use a pie pan. All you need is standard pie dough; then fold in the edges and bake. The edges turn brown, and the center stays lovely and tender. Minimal fuss, maximum flavor.
3) Honey-Roasted Pears with Mascarpone
Ingredients
Method
- I heat the oven to 400°F and place the pears cut-side up in a baking dish.
- I stir the honey, butter, lemon juice, and cinnamon together, then spoon it over the pears.
- I roast for 25 minutes, basting once, until the pears soften.
- I top each warm pear with mascarpone and walnuts before serving.
I love to cook with fruit, and I love the difference in flavor you get when roasting it. Roasting helps to concentrate the natural sugars, and you end up with a much deeper flavor.
These honey-roasted pears with mascarpone look and taste elegant, but you don't need to have a huge amount of skill to make them. The honey caramelizes during roasting, and the mascarpone turns soft and spreads easily when on top of the warm pear.
I like this served warm so you get the temperature contrast, and it also impresses guests when you serve it to them.
4) Pear and Gorgonzola Crostini
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Brush the bread with olive oil and toast for 6–8 minutes.
- Top each slice with pear and Gorgonzola. Return to the oven for 3–4 minutes, until the cheese softens.
- Drizzle with honey, then add walnuts and black pepper. I arrange them on a platter before anyone wanders into the kitchen looking hungry.
It's always fun to pair a sweet flavor with something strong and salty. This pear and Gorgonzola crostini is a great sweet and savory appetizer. The crostini is small and crispy but great for sharing, and it makes a great, elegant starter.
Just be careful to ensure that your pear is properly ripe so you can slice it for the crostini. If you have anyone at your party who doesn't like blue cheese, easily swap it out for some sharp cheddar or goat cheese.
5) Pear Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
- Add the bread and pears to the dish.
- Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and butter.
- Pour the mixture over the bread. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the center is set.
- Serve warm with vanilla sauce.
I'm a huge lover of bread pudding. It's so comforting, yet you can make it good enough to serve to your friends and family. Adding the pears to it elevates it somewhat, and as they soften during cooking, you end up with lovely added sweetness to the pudding.
The recipe is easy and great for home cooks, which is perfect for busy weeknight cooking. I love the custard-style vanilla sauce and definitely like to have plenty of it. I really enjoy the extra richness.
This dessert is great for using up leftover bread and not wasting anything.
6) Spiced Poached Pears
Ingredients
Method
- Add the wine, water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer.
- Add the pears and cover them with parchment or a small plate to keep them submerged.
- Simmer for 25 minutes, turning the pears twice, until tender when pierced.
- Cool them in the liquid. I spoon some syrup over each pear before serving, then add whipped cream because I like an easy finish.
Cooking fruit is something that's relatively new in my cooking journey, but I love doing it. Making these spiced poached pears involves gently simmering them, which means you can keep the entire shape of the fruit. You can sweeten the liquid they poach in and add some warm spices. This helps to infuse the pear with great flavor.
This can easily be made in advance, and it's great for when you're entertaining. You can also serve them warm or cold, and they are probably the easiest sophisticated dessert that you can make.
7) Pear and Cranberry Crumble
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Toss pears, cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice in an 8-inch baking dish.
- Mix oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the fruit.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the fruit bubbles and the topping turns golden. I let it rest for 10 minutes, which gives me time to find the serving spoons.
Whenever anybody hears "making desserts with cranberries," they usually associate it with Christmas time, but not with autumn desserts. This pear and cranberry crumble uses soft pears with tart cranberries, topped with a lovely buttery crumble topping.
The tartness of the cranberries balances out the sweetness of the pears. The crumble topping uses the standard mixture of butter, oats, and brown sugar. This turns crispy when baked, and the fruit softens.
Crumbles are one of the first recipes I ever learned to make. They are really forgiving and perfect for home cooks, even if your crumble topping gets a little too wet or even too dry. It will still taste great.
8) Mini Pear Cheesecakes
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Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners.
- Mix crumbs and butter. Press into liners and bake for 5 minutes.
- Beat cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Spoon over crusts.
- Toss pear with brown sugar and cinnamon. Add a few pieces to each cup.
- Bake for 18–20 minutes. Cool, then chill for at least 2 hours.
I love making cheesecakes, but making a full-size one for a party is quite labor-intensive and can end up being quite stressful. Making these mini pear cheesecakes is totally doable. You still get the classic cheesecake flavor and structure: a cream cheese base and a graham cracker crust.
Making them individually is just so much easier. The pear really goes well with the creaminess and helps to cut through the richness. Individual desserts are also more elegant-looking. And these are a great way to serve up sophisticated desserts without worrying about cracks in your cheesecake.
9) Pear Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.
- Mix brown sugar with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Spread it in the pan, then arrange the pear slices on top.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Beat granulated sugar, remaining butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients and milk.
- Pour batter over the pears. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the center springs back.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
This pear upside-down cake makes use of making your own caramel and caramelizing your pears in butter and brown sugar in the pan before topping with the cake batter.
I recommend using brown sugar for the caramel, as it gives a deeper flavor than white sugar. As the cake bakes, the pears will soften, and you end up with something delicious and jammy. Just remember to invert your cake while it's still warm.
Also, don't forget to prep your pan properly and give it a really good grease. Otherwise, the caramel will stick.
10) Caramel Pear Trifle
Ingredients
Method
- Toss pears with lemon juice.
- Add half the cake to a trifle bowl.
- Spoon on half the pears, caramel, whipped cream, and pecans.
- Repeat the layers.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Everyone loves a good trifle, and for me this caramel pear trifle is great as it's an easy make-ahead dessert. All the flavours are centred around the pears in a caramel sauce. Trifles tend to taste better when you've actually left them for a while, such as in the fridge overnight, so that the flavors can really develop.
Just make sure that your custard is chilled enough before you assemble, and you can add the whipped cream just before serving so that it will stay nice and fluffy.
Be careful when handling your pears as they will be soft, and you need to be gentle when you build your layers. I like to do this in a glass dish so that everyone can see the dessert that I built.
11) Pear and Almond Tart
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet and prick the center with a fork.
- Beat the almond flour, sugar, butter, egg, and almond extract until smooth. Spread it over the pastry, leaving a 1-inch edge.
- Arrange the pears in overlapping rows. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
A lot of home cooks get intimidated by making their own tart crust, but it really is just butter and flour. This pear and almond tart is great for home cooks. You get the pairing of the fruit with the rich butteriness of the almond cream base layer, which fills the inside of the pastry.
The only tricky part is remembering that you need to blind bake the pastry to make sure that it doesn't collapse. I like to arrange the fruit on top simply, but it gives the tart some extra visual appeal as the tart bakes.
The pears will soften and meld with the almond cream filling. Just be careful and keep an eye on it as you bake, as pears can turn mushy really quickly.
12) Easy Pear Cobbler
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch baking dish.
- Toss pears with sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Spread them in the dish.
- Stir flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, and butter until just combined. Spoon the batter over the pears.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the topping turns golden and the fruit bubbles. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.
The very first time I made a cobbler, it was nothing pretty to look at, but it tasted amazing. That's the great thing about cobblers, and this easy pear cobbler has a biscuit topping instead of a more traditional crust.
It's so easy to make, and don't be intimidated if you've never made it before. The biscuit topping is really forgiving too, and any mistakes will just end up making it look even more rustic.
Learning to make a good cobbler is a great starting point for learning to bake. It will help you develop confidence without being overwhelmed with stress.
13) Pear Sorbet with Fresh Lemon
Ingredients
Method
- Simmer the pears, water, and sugar in a saucepan for 8 minutes, until soft.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then blend with the lemon juice and zest.
- Chill the mixture for 1 hour.
- Freeze it in an ice cream maker. If I skip that step, I freeze it in a shallow dish and stir every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
- Freeze until firm, then let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping.
This pear sorbet with fresh lemon is not only easy to make but is super refreshing and made with just fruit, some sweetener, and fresh lemon juice. The fresh lemon juice is really important, as it helps to brighten the flavors of the fruit and helps to cut the sweet flavor of the pears.
The only thing when making pear sorbet is that you need to make sure you follow the recipe and churn it for long enough. Otherwise, it can separate.
It's the ideal dessert when you want something sweet but without cream or eggs. I always like to use sorbet to end a heavy meal, as it's light and great for cleansing the palate.
14) Chocolate-Dipped Pear Slices
Ingredients
Method
- Pat the pear slices dry with paper towels.
- Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second bursts, stirring each time.
- Dip half of each pear slice into the chocolate.
- Sprinkle with pistachios, then place the slices on parchment.
- Chill for 15 minutes, until the chocolate sets.
These chocolate-dipped pear slices are not only super tasty but really are one of the simplest desserts you can make. The sweetness of the fruit goes well with the richness of the chocolate.
Be careful and get your pears dipped into the chocolate quickly before they start to oxidize and turn brown. The chocolate will firm up as it cools, but if your fruit is too cold, it can crack when you dip it.
I like to make these when I want something homemade, delicious, but not overly fussy.
15) Pear and Brie Puff Pastry Bites
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Cut the pastry into 24 squares and press them into a mini muffin pan.
- Add one piece of Brie, a pear slice, and a few pecans to each cup.
- Brush the pastry edges with egg. Bake for 15 minutes, until puffed and golden.
- Drizzle with honey and serve warm. I set a timer because entertaining makes me forget basic things, like timers.
I can make my own puff pastry, but it is a long process, and there's nothing wrong with using store-bought. These pear and brie puff pastry bites are elegant and great for entertaining. Using shop-bought puff pastry helps you cut down on time, and when you fill the pastry with brie and pears, the brie melts and turns creamy.
The sweetness of the pear balances out the flavor of the cheese. You don't really need much cooking skill either. All you need to do is be able to assemble them. It's great for home cooks who want something impressive.
