Oh so fun! Our Paleo MINI PEAR PIES are certainly eye catching aren’t they!? If you watch The Great British Baking Show over on Netflix, these may seem familiar. Paul Hollywood asked the contestants in this season to make “mini pear pies” during a technical challenge.
I knew from the moment I saw this episode that our original PIE CRUST RECIPE would make these Paleo mini pea pies happen one day. The Paleo and gluten free community needed to be able to enjoy these as well! You can also use our PIE CRUST MIX in collaboration from LEGIT BREAD COMPANY. Just like that, your MINI PEAR PIES are that much easier to make!
You will need two pie crust recipes for this deliciousness, so prepare accordingly! This way you’ll have enough dough to wrap all six pears, having extra for those cute leaf accents and maybe a few pie crust cookies!
The original recipe used white wine to poach the pears in. We do not drink alcohol, so we knew there had to be a tasty sub and pineapple juice was the answer! It adds a touch of sweetness while still allowing the spectacular flavor of the pears to shine. If you want to try out the wine instead, you do you and let us know how it goes.
These mini pear pies would be absolutely lovely as a dessert for an intimate dinner party. While they of course would be AMAZING for your holiday dinner table, they are a bit time intensive to prep. So, here is what we think. Are you possibly in charge of bringing dessert to a holiday meal? Ok then, this might be your addition to the meal.
If you, however, are in charge of the bulk of the meal, you might consider saving this for another day when you have extra time on your hands. Although, my hubby commented after having a few bites “these might be worth the effort!” soooo, maybe they should make an appearance this holiday season!
“On your marks, get set…BAKE!”
a few of our favorite PIES on the blog:
mini pear pies
Course: dessert, holidayCuisine: BritishDifficulty: moderate6
pears1
hour30
minutesIngredients
2 of our pie crust recipes
6 pears, your favorite variety, ripe but still firm
1¼ cups maple sugar
18 oz pineapple juice
14 oz water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 large egg, whisked with 1 tbsp water (opt egg wash)
Organic sugar or maple sugar (opt)
Directions
- Prepare pie crust as directed, rolling into two dough balls. Wrap in plastic or airtight container and set aside while you prep pairs.
- If you have a large enough pan, peel all six pears. Alternately, work on three pears at a time. Peel pears, leaving stems intact, set aside. Add sugar, juice, cinnamon sticks and water to a heavy bottomed pan. Bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved and boil for three minutes.
- Add three pears to the pan, bring back to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes to lightly poach the pears*. Remove with a slotted spoon to a small plate and repeat with remaining three pears. Let them all cool.
- While pears cool, boil syrup for 10-15 minutes or until reduced by half and thick, remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl or jar. Cool complelely. Preheat your oven to 400°.
- When pears and syrup are cool, roll out one dough ball between two pieces of dusted parchment paper. You’re going to need 3 – 5” x 9” rectangles. DOES NOT have to be perfect here. You can cut out a pattern to lay on dough and cut around if that’s easier. Reroll scraps as needed to get three rectangles.
- Take one pear and brush with cooled syrup. Carefully lay the pear down near the middle of the rectangle, positioning the stem near the top edge of the pastry, (see video) and using the parchment to help, wrap the pastry around the pear like you’re wrapping it up with a cape! Remove excess dough as needed and carefully press dough to the pear til it’s smooth. Try not to cover the bottom too much, as you want it to stand up straight to bake. Place pear on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining pears. Use scraps of dough to cut out leaf shapes to decorate, and adhere with egg wash.
- If you want a lovely golden bake, brush the entire pear with the egg wash and sprinkle with a little bit of organic sugar or maple sugar. Again, totally optional, but this step will provide a very lovely golden brown.
- Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes then serve with syrup.
- TIP: the original recipe from The Great British Baking Show by Paul Hollywood instructed to core the pears after the poaching. We skipped this step intentionally as we feel like without the core intact, the pears shrink up when they bake and don’t have the best presentation after. Just remind guests that there is a core! Also, on the show contestants were instructed to make strips of pastry dough and wrap the pears. We tried that and feel like using a sheet of dough to wrap was easier to do.
- *DO NOT OVER POACH, otherwise they will be too soft to remove and work with getting the pasty wrapped.
