I’m so excited to be finally sharing this recipe with you! For the last 3+ years this Pear Crumble Pie has become our favorite pie ever/Thanksgiving dessert tradition. Since I only make it once a year and am often traveling for the holiday and baking it in someone else’s kitchen, it has taken me this long to take a picture and share it. But I have already passed the recipe on to a few friends who love it too. It’s a keeper! And since pears are in season much of the winter, it would also make an excellent Christmas/New Years treat!

Pear pie might sound weird, since apples are more commonly used. But I promise, once you try this combo of sweet Bartlett pears with tossed with cinnamon and vanilla in a flaky all-butter pie crust and topped with cookie crumble, you won’t go back to apple pie!

You might notice that the left half of the pie above has oats in the crumb topping and the right half does not. I figured out several years ago that I can’t digest oatmeal without side effects (which I’ll spare you the details on). So I’ve adapted this recipe to be made with and without the oats and it’s great either way. Though I do love the heartiness the oatmeal provides to the crumble, and recommend using it if you can!

Lastly, please make your own pie crust. It’s really not hard. And it tastes so SO much better than store bought. This is my favorite pie crust recipe. It’s buttery and flaky and perfect. (And can easily be doubled when you want to use it in a recipe that calls for a top and bottom pie crust!)

Pear Crumble Pie

INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
3-4 Tbsp. ice water
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Filling:
5 large Bartlett pears (about 2 lbs.), peeled, cored and thinly sliced (use pears that are ripe but still firm- not too squishy yet- so they don’t get mushy once baked)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (or 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract)

Crumble:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (or replace with another 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the pie crust, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor (or by hand with a whisk). Add the butter and pulse until coarse mill forms (or cut in the butter by hand with a pastry blender until only pea-size crumbs remain). Gradually blend in enough ice water until the dough clumps (or mix in a Tbsp. at a time by hand). Form the dough into a large ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight.
2. Roll out the pastry dough on a floured surface until large enough to cover a 9-inch pie dish. Drape the rolled out pastry over the pie dish and press it down to fit. Trim and crimp the edges. Brush the bottom and sides of the crust with the beaten egg white. 
3. To make the filling, in a large bowl add the vanilla seeds/extract, pears, flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands or a spoon to carefully combine the ingredients together, making sure the pears don’t break apart. Set aside.
4. To make the crumble, in a small bowl, combine the flour, oats (if using), brown sugar and butter. Using a pastry cutter/fork (or your fingers), combine the mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
5. Spoon the filling into the pie crust. Top with the crumble mixture.
6. Preheat oven to 325 F. (If you are worried about your filling spilling over, you can place the pie pan on top of a large rimmed baking sheet to catch any dripping while it bakes. I used a deep dish pie pan and didn’t need to.)
7. Cover the exposed pie crust with thin strips of aluminum foil or a pie shield and bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil/shield and bake for another 25 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden and crisp. Let cool for at least an hour before serving. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Makes 1 pie.

(Adapted from Bitchin Camaro)