Pear Galette

In my opinion, the Pear Galette is the unsung hero of fall desserts. Let me elaborate: It happens every year - Fall rolls in with its beautiful, cool, crisp air; colorful, changing leaves; red wine, fireplaces, and cozy blankets... and enough pumpkin and apple recipes to make your head spin. I have nothing against either of them, but I'll admit I get bored with them pretty quickly, and by the time Thanksgiving rolls around I don't even want to look at either one of them. Thank goodness my dad made the best pecan pie ever. But that's another post. This Pear Galette is the cure for fall dessert boredom and it's easier than pie. Literally.

Pear Galette

When I want something different, but something that still evokes that familiar "fall" feeling, this pear galette is the answer. I think pears are so much more interesting than apples. They're like apple's tall, sexy cousin. Juicy but still firm when ripe, with their signature texture and elegant shape, you can pretty much use them in place of apples in most recipes, and they just make such a difference. My son said this was like "upgraded apple pie." From the mouths of babes and I can't disagree.

And let's talk about galettes

I really can't praise the humble, elegant galette enough. Just as the pear is apple's sexy cousin, the galette is pie's laid back, effortlessly cool, French buddy. Essentially an open-faced, free-form pie, galettes take the fear and fiddliness out of pie making. They are supposed to be rustic! Their simplicity is what makes them beautiful and elegant.

The crust for this pear galette is simple

My crust recipe is all butter, made in a flash in the food processor, and very easy to work with. Once you have the basic method down, you can switch up the fruits, adjusting the flour and sugar in the filling depending on the juiciness and sweetness of your chosen fruit. It is easily doubled too if you want two galettes or are making a double crust pie. Although, I hardly make pies anymore because I love galettes so much, especially this pear galette, and I hope you will too!

As always, I hope you'll leave a rating and review if you make this and I would LOVE if you'd share photos with me over on Instagram @wild.thistle.kitchen. It makes my day to see my recipes out there in the wild!

Happy Baking! xo - Anita

Pear Galette

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The Pear Galette is the answer to fall dessert boredom (ie: apple and pumpkin overload). It is easy, elegant, still full of cozy fall spice and warmth. And it's easier than pie!

• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 1 9-inch galette

Ingredients

For the crust:

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), very cold and diced into small cubes
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs vodka mixed with 4 tbs water, very cold (I learned the vodka trick from America's Test Kitchen a long, long time ago, and it really makes a difference; however, you can leave it out and just use water.)

For the galette:

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pears, (bosc, anjou, or bartlett would be my top choices) - ripe but firm, peeled and thinly sliced or quartered and chunked into large bite size pieces
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon butter, diced into small pieces
• 1 egg mixed with one tablespoon of water
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling
• One rolled out crust, from recipe above, on parchment paper

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Instructions

To prepare:

1. Place dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to mix. Add cubed butter and pulse about 12 times until the butter and shortening are mixed throughout. Slowly pour the water/vodka mixture through the lid while pulsing, until the dough begins to clump. Give it one more good, long pulse until you see it starting to form a ball.
2. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap or parchment and press together to form a flat, round disc and chill for 20-30 minutes.
3. Prepare your fruit while it chills and preheat oven to 400 degrees with a pizza stone, baking steel, or large cookie sheet.
4. After chilling, roll dough out on a floured surface (I like to do it on the parchment I'll bake it on later) until you have about a 12 inch circle, and a thickness of about ¼ inch. The edges don't have to be perfect, just make sure to keep moving the dough and adding flour while rolling to make sure it isn't sticking (you don't have to worry too much about this if you're rolling it on parchment.)
5. Place rolled out dough in refrigerator for 5-10 minutes before adding fruit.
6. Place sliced/diced pears in a large bowl. Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice and gently toss to combine. I use my finger tips, so I don't mash up the pears.
7. Place pears and all their "goo" in the center of your rolled out crust, leaving a one inch border.Trim any very uneven edges if desired and fold edges of dough over the pears, folding and crimping as you go. Brush edges and folds with egg wash and sprinkle with a light dusting of granulated sugar, dot the top of pears with butter, and slide into the oven, either on a preheated pizza stone, baking steel, or preheated sheet tray.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly. Let cool for 20 minutes and serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: dessert
• Method: pastry

This post and recipe were originally published November 2, 2013 and updated on October 14th, 2020. See below for the OG photos!