Fried Pear Pies Recipe (2024)

Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4

For the Pastry Dough

• ½cup all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring surface
• ½cup cake or pastry flour
• ¼cup confectioners’ sugar
• ¼teaspoon salt
• 4tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1large egg, beaten

For the Pies

• 1tablespoon butter
• ¼cup packed light-brown sugar
• ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out with a knife
• 1tablespoon honey
• ½teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2slightly unripe Bartlett pears about 1 pound, peeled, quartered, cored and cut into ½-inch chunks
• 1egg
• 3cups vegetable oil
• Ice cream, for serving

Preparation

1. For the Pastry Dough

   1. Step

      1

      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.

   2. Step

      2

      See Also

      Warm Bread Salad Recipe

      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.

   3. Step

      3

      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 ⅛ 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.

   4. Step

      4

      Working quickly, make the pies: brush the outer ½ 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 ¼ 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.

   5. Step

      5

      Shortly before serving the pies, in a large, heavy skillet set over high heat, add enough oil to rise ½ 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.