Apple Pear Pie + Video

Turn your fall harvest into a delicious slice of Apple Pear Pie. Brownie points because it makes your kitchen smell amazing while cooking!

This Apple Pear Pie is everything I want in a fall dessert. Its tender buttery crust, sweet and tart apple pear filling, and delicious aromas from the warm spices, made it not only delicious, but made my house smell amazing while cooking. Being someone whom is extremely motivated by my sense of smell, the sweet cinnamon and nutmeg smells really got my creative juices rolling and in happy baking mode!

This recipe came about after an annual day trip to apple and pear pick and the local orchards with my kids. They absolutely love it, and go a bit crazy between filling up their bags whilst testing a piece of fruit from every tree. It has become quite the anticipated family day tradition every year.

With our massive harvest, I quickly had to come up with quite a few recipes to use up all the fruit. While we love eating apples and pears, there are only so much we can eat without our stomachs telling us to stop. That combined with the heat, made it a race to the bottom of the bag to use the fruit before it spoiled.

I have since made quite a few things including homemade pear cider, apple/pear sauce, and a killer pear spice cake. But of course, I couldn't go without making a pie!

Watch the video below to learn how we made this delicious pie!

WHY WE LOVE THIS APPLE PEAR PIE RECIPE

• Sweet and Tart- I like to use a tart apple in this recipe, such as granny smith apples to give the pie a bit of zing and a firm sweet pear, such as bosc pears to add sweetness. It's the perfect combination! The fruit filling really takes the stage here and shines.
• Unexpected Surprise- people never expect to have pears in pies, and they always are pleasantly surprised.
• Perfect pie for the holiday season- whether you're making it for Thanksgiving, or right after a day of apple picking, this pie will be a huge hit with family and friends.
• Simple to make- With only a few ingredients in the filling, and of course the flaky crust, this pie is ready to consume in no time!

FRESH APPLE PEAR PIE INGREDIENTS

For the Double Pie Crust-

• All- purpose flour
• Granulated white sugar
• Salt
• Unsalted Butter 
• Ice water

Apple Pear Filling-

• 3 medium firm yet ripe pears- we recommend bosc, bartlett, or Anjou pears
• 3 medium tart apples- we recommend tart sweet apples such as Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Fuji Apples
• Granulated white sugar- brown sugar can be used as a substitute as well
• Corn Starch
• Fresh lemon juice
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg- if you can, fresh nutmeg would be an amazing addition!
• Unsalted butter
• Large egg, slightly beaten
• Cinnamon and coarse sugar for the crust- this is optional but adds flavor and color to the top of the pie

HOW TO MAKE THIS APPLE AND PEAR PIE

For the crust-

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add your cold cubed butter and cut it into the dough using a pastry cutter.
3. When butter and flour have come together forming little clumps the size of peas, mix in the cold water.
4. Once everything is wet, gently knead dough with your hands until it all comes together and there is no flour at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Separate the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrapping.
6. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour before using, or freeze up to 1 month. While the pie dough is chilling, make the pear apple mixture.

For the filling-

1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped pears and apples, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Assembly-

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 disc of pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Gently place pie dough in the bottom of the pie dish
2. Pour fruit mixture into crust; dot with butter.
3. Roll out remaining pie crust disc and cover pie, pinching the top and bottom crusts together to seal.
4. With excess dough, roll and cut into leaf shapes. Lay on top of top crust.
5. Lightly brush crust with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
6. Cover with lightly fitted foil.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 30-35 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown.
8. Cool on wire rack before serving.

BEST TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR THIS RECIPE

• If you prefer to use only a mixture of apples or pears, go for it!
• Use store-bought crust or pie shell to save time. Allow the top pie crust shell to come the room temperature for about 10-15 minutes. Then roll it out into a 12-inch circle on a floured board and refrigerate for 20 minutes before laying it over the top of the filling.
• Add a hint of cayenne pepper in addition to the teaspoon ground cinnamon to the pie filling for a delicious spicy addition.
• After you have trimmed and pressed the two crusts to create the flute edges, use pie crust dough discard to create the leaves. Roll out the dough and chill for 15 minutes then cut into small leaf shapes using a sharp knife or these cookie cutters.
• Cut slits in the middle of the top of crust to create small steam vents in the pie. This helps the bottom crust to cook evenly.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of aluminum foil and bake the pie on this to avoid the pie filling oozing out of the crust and messing up your oven!
• Always serve with a scoop of ice cream! If you want to get fancy, you can also drizzle some bourbon caramel sauce over the ice cream.

HOW TO STORE DOUBLE CRUST PEAR APPLE PIE

We recommend storing this pie covered with plastic wrap or foil at room temperature for up to two days. After that, the pie can be stored in the refrigerator for two additional days.

If you would like to make this pie months in advance, you can too. If you actually get to it (I never do) then you're my spirit animal! To do so, simply make and assemble the pie completely, minus the egg wash and sugar topping. Then freeze the unbaked pie uncovered on a metal baking sheet for about 3 hours. Once frozen, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in a large ziploc bag to avoid freezer burn. When you're ready to bake the pie, bake it straight from the freezer! This may add 15-20 minutes more baking time, however.

APPLE PEAR PIE RECIPE FAQS

Why does my pie crust dough have to be chilled?

The reason you chill the dough is the harden up the butter again. Cold, hard butter will melt while baking and create air pockets in the dough which makes for a delightfully flaky crust!

When should I slice my pie?

We recommend waiting about 15-20 minutes after the pie has finished baking to slice. For one, the filling is scorching hot and steamy. Allowing it to sit for a few minutes will allow it to release the extra steam and cool off a bit. But don't worry, you'll still have a slice of hot pie with your ice cream! Secondly, it allows the apple pear pie filling to set up a bit. That way, when you slice it, the pie doesn't fall a part.

Can you have pie for breakfast?

There's a rule in my house- if there's leftover pie or pizza, that's always breakfast! The kids love it and it's a fun little tradition! It's definitely not the healthiest breakfast, but why not!

OTHER FALL PIE RECIPES WE THINK YOU'LL LOVE

• Apple Pie Bars
• Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Topping
• Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Here are the original photos from when this was posted years ago!