Pear Crumble Pie

Sweet pears get tossed with a sour cream pie filling for a delicious and easy autumn dessert. This Pear Crumble Pie also gets topped with a brown sugar crumble – delicious!

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We buy a fair number of pears around our house. As I was standing in front of the pears at the store the other day, I realized I don’t do a lot of baking with pears. Apples? All the time! But pears? Not so much. We normally just eat the pears by themselves. I decided it was time to mix things up – so I picked up some extra pears with the idea of turning those pears into a pear pie.

I recently tried a sour cream pie for the first time, and I loved it! I was intrigued by the idea of a sour cream pie filling – there’s no way this will taste like a pie, right?? One bite, and I was hooked! The slight tartness from the sour cream was offset by a bit of sugar. It worked! I decided to use this concept with the pears that were now sitting on my kitchen counter.

Pear Crumble Pie

For this Pear Crumble Pie, I diced all of the pears up and then stirred them into a sour cream pie filling. For the filling itself, I used ½-granulated sugar and ½-brown sugar. I also used less sugar overall since pears are on the sweet side when it comes to fruit. Add in some classic fall baking spices, and this filling was all done. The tart combined with the sweet is just fantastic!

As if that wasn’t enough, I decided to top this Pear Crumble Pie with a brown sugar and oat crumble. The flavor of toasted oats on top of pies just screams autumn to me, and this crumble didn’t disappoint! In fact, I could’ve eaten spoonfuls of this crumble by itself. It’s easy to mix together, and I suspect that the same crumble could be used on all sorts of pies, muffins, etc.

Sometimes I add a handful of chopped nuts in with the crumble topping. I didn’t add any this time, but finely chopped pecans or walnuts would be an excellent choice. Just keep a close eye on the crumble topping as this pie bakes – you might need to tent the top with foil to prevent the nuts from burning.

Best Pears for Baking

When it comes to baking, the best pears are either Bosc, Anjou or Bartlett. Fortunately, these varieties are usually the most common options in the store, too. This pie will bake for ~50 minutes, so the pears will be nice and soft once the pie is done. As far as ripeness, try to find pears that are firm but with a little give when you squeeze them. The pears I used for this pie were a little underripe when I bought them, but after sitting on the countertop for a couple of days they ended up being perfect.

I also highly recommend making your own pie crust from scratch. Yes, I know that sounds scary – but it’s actually quite easy. I used an all-butter pie crust with a tiny bit of vodka (yes, vodka!) in the crust. I talk about the baking science a bit more in this Pumpkin Pie post, but the vodka helps create a flaky pie crust. It’s fantastic!

The crust itself can be made the day before. Just shape the dough into a disc and wrap it in plastic wrap. It’ll hold in the refrigerator for 5-6 days easily. That all butter pie dough also freezes well. When I’m feeling ambitious (or bored), I’ll sometimes whip up 4-5 batches of pie dough. Each one gets wrapped in plastic wrap and then they all go into a freezer bag. It will last up to 6 months in the freezer.

How to Store Leftovers

We served this pie with friends, so we didn’t have much in the way of leftovers. Maybe a piece and a half…and that’s only because someone went back for another half-slice! However, leftover slices of this Pear Crumble Pie should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Either let the pie come back to room temperature or reheat it in a 300°F oven until warm. You could also zap a leftover slice of pie in the microwave, but the crumble topping will stay a bit soft. I don’t recommend freezing leftover slices of this pie.

If you’re looking to mix things up a bit for fall baking season, then grab some pears instead of apples. This Pear Crumble Pie is a great way to end a chilly autumn day. I hope you enjoy this pie as much as we did – Happy Baking!

Did you bake this Pear Crumble Pie recipe at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!

Pear Crumble Pie

Sweet pears get tossed with a sour cream pie filling for a delicious and easy autumn dessert. This Pear Crumble Pie also gets topped with a brown sugar crumble – delicious!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 471kcal

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Ingredients

For the Dough

• 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter cold
• 2 Tbsp vodka see note
• 2 Tbsp cold water

For the Filling

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 large pears peeled and chopped

For the Crumble Topping

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup old fashioned oats
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• ½ cup unsalted butter melted
• {optional} vanilla ice cream for serving

Instructions

For the Dough

• Using a food processor, add flour, brown sugar and salt; pulse until well combined.
• Cut butter into small cubes and add to the food processor; pulse until a crumbly mixture forms.
• Add vodka and water; pulse until dough comes together in a ball.
• Shape dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Note: Dough can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight.)
• Working on a well-floured surface, roll pie dough into a 12” circle.
• Transfer pie dough into pan and gently press dough into pie dish; Leave ~1” of overhang on all sides
• Fold excess dough under itself and use 2 fingers to crimp the edges. Refrigerate dough for at least 15 minutes.

For the Filling

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Using a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients except for pears.
• Add pears; stir until well combined.
• Transfer filling into the prepared pie dish.

For the Crumble Topping

• Using a medium bowl, add all of the ingredients for the topping; stir with a fork until a crumbly mixture forms.
• Sprinkle crumble topping evenly on top of pears.
• Bake for 25 minutes and then tent the top of the pie with aluminum foil.
• Continue baking for 25-30 more minutes, or until top of pie is golden brown and filling is set.
• Let pie cool on a wire rack for 30-40 minutes before serving.
• {Optional} Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Notes

The alcohol in the crust will evaporate while baking. Substituting vodka (or another 80-proof alcohol) for ½ of the liquid in pie dough will lead to a flakier crust once baked. Try it out! If you don’t want to use alcohol, just substitute water for the alcohol in the recipe.

Looking for more recipes with pears? Check out these other favorites, too: