This Caramel Pear Pie is a cozy, fall-inspired dessert that perfectly blends sweet pears with a rich caramel sauce in a buttery, flaky crust. It's an easy yet impressive pie that will make any gathering feel extra special.
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Why This Recipe Works:
- Seasonal Flavor: Juicy pears paired with homemade caramel bring out the best autumn flavors.
- Simple Steps: Straightforward instructions make this pie approachable for bakers of all levels.
- Showstopping Look: The golden crust and glossy caramel filling make it a beautiful centerpiece.
Make sure to check out my other delicious pie recipes like Sweet Potato Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, Caramel Pecan Pie, and this Chocolate Silk Pie.
What Goes Into Caramel Pear Pie?
Crust: Flour, salt, sugar, unsalted butter, and some cold water will make an easy, flaky crust! Otherwise, you can use two 9-inch deep dish crusts.
Pears: I like to use firm Bosc Pears, they bake up well nd are super tasty!
Sugar: This recipe combines both regular white sugar and brown sugar.
Nutmeg & Cinnamon: These are the flavors of fall and are so delicious in this pie!
Caramel Sauce: You can make some of my delicious homemade caramel sauce for this recipe, or use store-bought caramel sauce.
Lemon Juice: This helps prevent browning and balances out the sweetness.
Egg White: This is for the crust to give it a nice brown finish.
This pie is one of my favorite Thanksgiving Recipes! For more Thanksgiving inspiration, check out my pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust, sweet potato rolls, spatchcock turkey, and sour cream mashed potatoes!
How to Make Flaky Pie Crust?
- Step 1: Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Toss large chunks of butter in the flour and then smash each chunk with your thumb and index finger.
- Step 2: Add water and stir to form a dough, while still keeping the butter as chunky as possible. Chill for 10 minutes
- Step 3: Roll the dough out into a rectangle, fold the short sides in to the center, then the long sides together to form a book. Cut in half and refrigerate for another 10 minutes.
- Step 4: Roll one half of the dough into a circle, lay it in your pie dish, and gently push the dough into the corners. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Step 5: Roll the other half into a large rectangle, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2.5 hrs.. (Use this second piece to make the strips for the top)
How to Make Caramel Pear Pie?
- Step 1: Mix together the peeled, cored, and sliced pears with the sugar, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
- Step 2: Cook pears over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes.
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- Step 3: Once done cooking, place all pears and juice in a lined baking sheet and let cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Then drain off the liquid
- Step 4: Add to your prepared pie crust. Mix together caramel sauce and lemon juice and pour over pears
- Step 5: Top the pie with your top pie crust and brush with egg white.
- Step 6: Bake until done then let cool and set for 2-3 hours.
Expert Caramel Pear Pie Tips
- Pie Dough: For the best pie crust, keep the dough (and butter) cold, keep the butter chunks large, and don't be afraid of using extra flour for dusting and rolling out the dough!
- Precooking: Pears contain natural pectin. Precooking the pears allows us to utilize this natural thickener while draining off a lot of extra water, so it doesn't create a soggy pie.
- Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and then bake it to move it to and from the oven easily.
- Pie Crust Lattice: Cut strips out of the second piece of pie crust and weave them into a lattice structure. Or you can cut out shapes, use the entire crust with a few slits, or bake it without the top crust!
- Caramel Sauce: I love to add the caramel sauce to the filling and also use extra to drizzle on top after!
Frequently Asked Questions
I have found a firm pear is really what you want, which is why I really like the Bosc pears. Regardless of the type of pears, make sure they aren't too ripe or mushy. You don't want a mushy pie.
This pear pie recipe takes a total of 50 minutes to bake (at two different temperatures).
Precook the pears in a pot on the stove for ~15 minutes to remove some of the juice so the pie isn't watery and doesn't make the crust soggy.
Both are fine and will get the job done. Homemade from scratch pie dough will be tastier and way more flaky- but no judgement here for using store-bought! I use it too sometimes!
More Related Recipes
If you like this recipe, make sure to check out some of my other delicious dessert recipes like Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream, Buttermilk Chocolate Cake, and German Chocolate Cake.
If you like this recipe make sure to give it a 5-star review and leave a comment down below!
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Video
Caramel Pear Pie
Ingredients
Flakey pie crust:
- 1 ⅔ cups flour plus more for dusting
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup cold water
Caramel pear filling:
- 10 Bosc Pears peeled large , cored, and diced (I like to use firm pears)
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- Pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup Caramel Sauce plus more for drizzling
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon water
Instructions
Make Homemade Pie Crust
- Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.1 ⅔ cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tbs sugar
- Cut butter into large cubes. Emphasis on large. I recommend cutting each stick into four chunks and then each chunk into four more chunks. Then place the butter chunks in the flour mixture and toss to coat with flour.1 cup unsalted butter
- Once tossed, smash each chunk of butter between your fingertips. Smash each flat, then move on to the next chunk. You don't need to cut the butter in because you want the butter to stay in large chunks.
- Once each chunk is smashed, using a spatula, stir in the water. Stir the dough until it forms a sticky ball. You will need to use the side of the bowl to bring the dough together.½ cup cold water
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few more times to finish bringing the dough together. Place the dough back into the bowl and refrigerate for 10 minutes- you want to keep the dough cold and the butter from melting.
- Roll out the dough on the floured surface (adding more when needed), into a large rectangle (roughly 12x10 inches). Make sure to flip the dough, add more flour if sticking, and don't hesitate to put it back in the fridge if the butter starts melting and sticking.
- Fold the 10-inch sides to the center of the rectangle, then fold the other ends together like closing a book. Cut in half and then refrigerate both halves for 10 minutes.
- Bring out one piece of dough and roll it into a circle large enough to fit your pie plate. Place in your pie plate, pressing into the corners, and then cut the extra dough that hangs over the edge using scissors-dust off any extra flour.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to relax for at least 2 hours in the fridge or overnight.
- Take the second piece of dough and roll it out into a large rectangle. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs.
How to Make Caramel Pear Pie:
- Adjust oven rack to the lowest position in the oven and preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a large pot, add the peeled, cored, and sliced pears, the white sugar, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to mix well.10 Bosc Pears peeled, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, Pinch salt, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Precook the pears over medium-high heat, covered for 15-20 minutes until the pears are easily pierced with a fork. Stirring occasionally. The pears will release a lot of juice during this time, and that is what you want.
- Once done cooking, place all pears and juice in a lined baking sheet and let cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
- Once at room temperature, drain the pears and place them in your prepared pie crust (after it has rested).
- Combine the caramel sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl, then pour it over the pears.½ cup Caramel Sauce, 1 tbs lemon juice
- Remove your rectangular piece of pie dough and cut it into strips. Weave a lattice as the top pie crust, then press the ends into the bottom pie crust.
- Whisk together the egg white plus 1 teaspoon of water. Then brush that over the entire lattice.1 egg white, 1 teaspoon water
- Place the pie on a baking sheet and then bake for 25 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 375° and bake for another 25 minutes. Keep an eye on the crust. If parts start to get dark golden-brown cover those places with foil.
- Once the pie is done baking, let it cool on a wire rack for 2 ½-3 hrs.
- When serving, drizzle with extra caramel sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- *You can use homemade caramel sauce or store-bought. I've used both and find that using store-bought tends to make the filling a little watery, but nothing too bad.
- *If you use store-bought caramel sauce, get at least 16 oz so you have some for the filling and some extra to drizzle on top when you eat it.
- *Precooking the pears should remove much of the excess liquid that would otherwise make the pie really soupy.
- * Depending on how underripe or firm your pears are, the cooking time on the stove will vary.
Karen S. says
This is a very good recipe. I made two pies today. I used store bought pie crust. The pears I used where Florida sand pears which are known to be “harder” pears. I cooked them for about 20 minutes, let them cool for 30 minutes and assembled the pie. They turned out very good. I will keep this recipe and reuse again. Thank you.
Lisa says
Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know!