Pleasing Pear Pie Recipes

FRIED PEAR PIES

Steps:

• Make the dough: Pulse the flours, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and pulse again until the flour looks like cornmeal, then pulse in the egg until the mixture clumps together. Knead the dough a few times, press it into a disc and wrap loosely in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
• Make the filling: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla seeds, honey and lemon zest. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add the pears and cook, stirring from time to time, until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
• Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Line a baking sheet small enough to fit in your freezer with parchment or wax paper. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick and cut into circles with a 4-inch cutter. Gather the unused dough into a ball and repeat until you have used all the dough. You should have 8 to 10 circles. Place on the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
• Working quickly, make the pies: brush the outer 1/2 inch of a pastry circle with the egg wash, then spoon a heaping tablespoon of pears onto the circle, off center. Top the pears with as much of the liquid from the pan as will fit without spilling out, about 1/4 teaspoon. Lift the edge opposite the pears with a spatula and fold the pastry to cover the pears, making a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork to seal the pie. Transfer to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastry circles. (If the dough starts to tear, chill it.) Freeze for at least 3 hours.
• Shortly before serving the pies, in a large, heavy skillet set over high heat, add enough oil to rise 1/2 inch up the pan and heat until it reaches 350 degrees or a pinch of dough immediately bubbles and starts to brown. Fry 3 or 4 pies at a time, turning them once, until both sides are golden, 4 to 5 minutes. If they start to turn dark brown, lower the heat a little. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on brown paper bags. Repeat with the remaining pies. Serve warm, with ice cream.

FRESH PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place a baking sheet on the bottom oven rack.
• Combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest in mixing bowl. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie pan.
• Arrange pear slices in layers in the pastry-lined pan, sprinkling the sugar mixture over each layer. Dot with butter and sprinkle with lemon juice.
• Roll out remaining dough for the top crust. Use your finger dipped in a small bowl of water to moisten the rim of the bottom crust. Place top crust over filling, and trim edge using kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife. Fold edge under bottom crust, pressing to seal. Flute edge. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 35 to 40 minutes longer. Allow to cool several hours before serving.

PLEASING PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat one to 425 degrees.
• Sprinkle pears with lemon juice.
• Toss lightly with mixture of remaining ingredients.
• Heap into pastry lined 9 inch pie plate.
• Dot with 2 Tbsp butter, and cover with top crust.
• Crimp edges of crust, and cut slits in top to vent.
• Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, covering crust edges with foil after the first 15 minutes.
• Serve warm with whipped topping or softened vanilla ice cream.

PEAR HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*F In a medium sized bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Mix well Add diced pears to sugar mixture and mix gently until well coated. Roll pie crust out. Using a bowl as a pattern that is approximately 4 - 5 inches in diameter, cut out round circles for your hand pies. Reroll excess dough to create more crusts. Place crusts onto a lined baking sheet. Place a small amount of pears in the center of one cut pie crust - leaving approximately 1/2 inch space around sides. Dot pear mixture with a small amount of butter. Sprinkle with few drops of lemon juice. In a small bowl beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush egg around the edge of the circle. This will act as a glue. Fold circle in half enclosing the pear filling. Crimp edges with a fork to ensure a good seal. Brush egg mixture on top of each hand pie. Slice slits on top and dust with course sugar if desired. Place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

BREAD PUDDING PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Coarsely chop pears; place in a greased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Add the milk, vanilla, lemon zest and salt; mix well. Stir in crumbled English muffins; pour over pears. bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly on a wire rack., For butterscotch sauce, combine brown sugar and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted. gradually add 1/2 cup cream. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla; set aside., In a small bowl, beat the remaining cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Cut into wedges. Garnish with whipped cream and pear slices if desired. serve with butterscotch sauce.

PEAR-AND-LEMON PIE WITH PATE BRISEE CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in center and a large sheet of foil on rack below. In a large bowl, gently combine pears, sugar, lemon peel, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt, and nutmeg.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of dough to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Pour filling into pie shell; dot butter over top. Roll out second disk of dough to a 13-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Drape over filling. Trim overhang to 1 inch; press to seal, then tuck under and crimp. Brush top with beaten egg. Cut 5 leaf-shaped vents in top crust. Insert cinnamon stick in center as a stem. Freeze 30 minutes.
• Bake until crust is golden on bottom and juices are bubbling in center, 1 hour, 15 minutes to 1 hour, 30 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent top or edge with foil). Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 4 hours. Cut into slices to serve.

CRUSTLESS PEAR PIE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the pears, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; toss to coat. Transfer to a 9-in. pie plate coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with almonds., In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. sprinkle over the top. , Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

CREAMY PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, stir together the white sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Add pears, and toss to coat. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla, lemon and almond extracts until the pears are evenly coated. Pour into the unbaked pie shell.
• In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup flour and brown sugar. Mix in the butter with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.
• Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until pears are tender.

PEAR PIE

Steps:

• Arrange pear slices in pie shell in an attractive pattern.
• Beat the sugar, flour, melted butter, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, ginger and Cointreau with a mixer until smooth and well blended Pour mixture over the pears in the pie shell.
• Bake at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes, or until light brown and top springs back when pressed.