Today is National Pie Day and our This Week’s Cravings theme is Homemade Pies. I’ve gone to my pie wheelhouse today to make one of my husband’s favorites, pear pie. He is inexplicably not a fan of apple pie, but a huge fan of pears, so pear pie is what I always make when I’m craving apple pie and don’t want to eat nearly the entire pie myself (the kids can only help so much, right?). Pear pie was actually what I made him for his very first father’s day. That version had two crusts, but I decided to top this one with walnut crumb topping (yum!).
Bug, our 3-year-old, helped so much with this pie. She did all the fork crimping (including a bit of extra poking inside the pie) and dropped the pears into the food processor shoot. She also helpfully snacked upon the entire bowl of pear peels throughout the day (OK, there were two peel fragments left, but still…she was crazy for them). I used 3 Bosc and 3 Concorde pears, all of which came in my CSA box, but pears (or even apples) of most varieties would be yummy.
Pear Crumb Pie
Ingredients
Adapted from Apple Crumb Pie recipe from Cuisinart
- 1 flaky pie crust
- 6 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced (about 4mm slices)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons, I zested mine first to make Lemon Poppyseed Muffins)
- 2 teaspoons vanillla
- 1/3 cup sucanat or sugar
- 2 tablespoons Plum Jam
- Walnut Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 3/4 cup flour, unbleached
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoons salt
Method
Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pie crust, crimping edges.
Prepare walnut crumb topping. Pulse walnuts in food processor. Add remaining crumb topping ingredients and pulse until blended, but crumbly. (You could also crush the walnuts and cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or two knives.)
In a large bowl, mix pears, lemon juice, vanilla and sucanat/sugar. Spread jam over the inner surface of the pie crust. Spread or pour pear mixture on top of crust (mine came out a little soupy from pouring it all in, so watch your liquid amount).
Top pears with Walnut Crumb Topping and bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes until golden brown.
The Results
The first slice was a little soupy (I MAY have gotten a bit impatient and sliced it before it was completely cooled), but the rest were actually pretty normal pie consistency. The flavor in all the slices was amazing. I really liked the jam barrier for the pie crust, but the best part is the lemony freshness really came through in each bite of pear along with the subtle hint of vanilla. Delicious.
The party has a few SIMPLE RULES and all of the themes for the entire year are list here on the THIS WEEK’S CRAVINGS tabat Moms Crazy Cooking. Plan ahead, check out the weeks you want to make sure to link up or just browse them to see what’s going on.This Week’s Cravings Upcoming Linky “THEMES”
Here is a complete list of the past and what’s coming up next on THIS WEEK’S CRAVINGS!
- January 30: Recipe from Your Favorite COOKBOOK
- February 6: Nutella DAY (Peanut Butter, Almond Butter & More)
- February 13: Valentine’s Day Treats or Romantic Dinners
- February 20: Mexican Appetizers and Avocado and Salsa Recipes
If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party! If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!
