Julie Clark
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Pear Cranberry Pie
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This Pear Cranberry Pie is the perfect balance of sweet, tender pears and tart, fresh cranberries encased in an all-butter, flaky, crisp crust. Plus, there’s a touch of fresh ginger that gives this fruit pie a bright, fresh taste. It’s the perfect non-traditional pie to celebrate Thanksgiving.
I’ve been on a fall baking spree. This month I’ve been taking traditional autumn flavors of apple pie and pecan pie and turning them upside down to create unexpected, original desserts that use fall flavors in new, interesting, and delicious ways, like apple fritters, chai cinnamon rolls and pecan pie bars. And today I have this gorgeous Pear Cranberry Pie to share with you.
I feel like apples and pumpkin get all the glory in fall themed desserts, and why not? After all they’re pretty darn delicious. But what about pears? They’re in season from late summer all the way through winter, so I decided to use the often-overlooked pear to create a perfectly delicious pie for your Thanksgiving table.
Why you’ll love this cranberry pear pie:
- perfect balance of sweet and tangy
- uses fresh cranberries and pears
- gorgeous color for the holiday dessert table
- a touch of fresh ginger and cinnamon for a flavor boost
What pears are best for a pie?
When making a pear pie, you’ll want pears that hold their shape well and have a good balance of sweetness and firmness.
Bosc pears are firm and have a sweet, slightly spicy flavor. They hold up well when baked, making them a top choice for pies.
Other good options are Bartlett and Anjou pears.
Start with a Double Pie Crust
Like always, we love our grandma’s pie crust recipe. It uses a combination of butter and shortening. Butter for flavor and shortening for flakiness. This traditional pie crust pairs beautifully with almost any filling, including pear and cranberry filling.
You can use store bought pie crust if you’d like a shortcut, or try one of these other favorites:
How to Make Pear Cranberry Pie Filling
The filling for this pie is the perfect balance between juicy, sweet pears and tart, crisp cranberries. And while most apple pies have lemon juice or zest to brighten up the pie, this Pear Cranberry Pie has a bit of fresh ginger grated right into the filling.
If you’re worried about a sharp, overwhelming ginger taste, I promise that is not the case. The ginger is subtle. If you don’t have fresh ginger, substitute with just a dash of ground ginger.
- Place the pears and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Microwave for 4 to 8 minutes or until the pears are translucent and release their juices. Stir once, half way through cooking. (I cooked mine for a total of 6 minutes.) Remove the pears from the microwave and allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes.
- While the pears cool, make the cranberry portion of the filling. Place the cranberries in the work bowl of a food processor.
- Add the remaining granulated sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ground cinnamon and grated fresh ginger to the processor. Pulse the cranberries about 5 times until roughly chopped.
- Mix the cranberries with the cooled pear mixture. Then place in the prepared bottom crust.
Lattice Top or Decorated Crust
Once your pie filling is made, it’s time to think about how to decorate the top of the pie.
The original recipe for this pie asks for a crumb streusel topping with oats, but I’m a crust kinda-gal, so I switched it up to a double crust creation. For the top crust, I’ve done both quick and easy (traditional double crust) and something a little fancy (lattice top with scalloped strips).
Either way, if you have any extra dough and don’t want to waste it, use the scraps to make some mini-leaf and acorn cut-outs. I love how they turned out! They made an already pretty pie into a gorgeous one.
There’s so much about this Pear Cranberry Pie recipe that I love, but I’d have to say that my favorite part of the pie is getting the perfect bite with the buttery, crisp crust, sweet, juicy pears, tart cranberries, and bright fresh ginger.
It’s such a satisfyingly delicious autumn treat, especially when paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You won’t even miss pumpkin pie!
Pear Cranberry Pie
This Pear Cranberry Pie is the perfect balance of sweet, tender pears and tart, fresh cranberries encased in an all-butter, flaky, crisp crust. Plus, there’s a touch of fresh ginger that gives this fruit pie a bright, fresh taste. It’s the perfect non-traditional pie to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Servings 8
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the Crust:
For the Egg Wash:
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
For the Filling:
- 3 lbs Bosc pears (peeled, halved, cored and sliced)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (divided)
- 8 ounces fresh cranberries
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cubed salted butter
For Assembling:
- course sugar
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Prepare your favorite pie crust (enough for a double crust) or use store bought pie crust. Pastry for double pie crust
- Transfer the one sheet of rolled dough into a 9-inch round pie dish. Fold over any hanging edges and crimp to your desired design.
- Place the dough lined pie pan in the fridge to keep chilled while you prepare the pie filling.
For the Filling:
- Place the pears and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl. Toss to combine. 3 lbs Bosc pears, ½ cup granulated sugar
- Microwave for 4 to 8 minutes or until the pears are translucent and release their juices. Stir once, half way through cooking. (I cooked mine for a total of 6 minutes.)
- Remove the pears from the microwave and allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes.
- While the pears cool, make the cranberry portion of the filling. Place the cranberries in the work bowl of a food processor. 8 ounces fresh cranberries
- Add the remaining granulated sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, ground cinnamon and grated fresh ginger to the processor. Pulse the cranberries about 5 times until roughly chopped. ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger*, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Mix the cranberries with the cooled pear mixture.
- Turn the filling into the chilled crust lined pie plate. Dot the top with the butter cubes. 2 tablespoons cubed salted butter
- Place the second rolled out pie dough over the filling. Use a knife to trim any excess pie crust, leaving enough dough to tuck the top crust under the bottom crust. Flute the edges of the pie crust to seal.
- Cut slits in the top of the crust and make small cut outs with the extra pie dough if desired.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Brush the crust with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon water, course sugar
- Preheat the oven to 400º Fahrenheit. Bake the pie in the preheated oven on the lowest oven rack for about 50 to 55 minutes.
- Allow the pie to cool for about 4 hours until serving. Once the pie is cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the pie being cut into 8 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of pie. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 559kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 529mg | Potassium: 284mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 880IU | Vitamin C: 11.1mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2.2mg
My pear portion is cooling now but there seems to be a lot of liquid. Do I need to drain any off or will it set in the baking?
Thank you!
There’s no oven temp that I can find in this recipe…i guess I’ll wing it!
Great job! Love the crust, it’s so cute!!
I love the cranberry-pear combo – it’s one of my favorite ways to make cranberry sauce! I’m sure this pie would be DELICIOUS!
Aida, you nailed again! I’m always in Awww of your creations, and this Pear Cranberry Pie is no exception! Pinned!!
So pretty with the leaves! And I love the pear and cranberry combination, it sounds delicious!
I love cranberry pie but I love it even more that you threw in pears. That pretty lattice crust is so beautiful!
So pretty! I love the sound of the combination of flavors!
I’m always too lazy to do a lattice crust but it makes sense on this one. That gorgeous filling should be seen!
HALLO gorgeous pie!! Beautiful flavors, too. Could you come over and do that perfect lattice for me, please?! 😀
I just love a lattice crust! I think that they make the pie look so pretty! My husband is actually the one that taught me how to do one! haha.
What a gorgeous lattice pie! And grated GINGER!!! Wow. This is a showstopper and I’d love just one bite!