Bourbon Salted Caramel Pear Pie
Beautiful pear pie infused with bourbon, drizzled with salted caramel, and topped with a perfectly sweet, pecan dutch crumble. This salted caramel pear pie is a fun, unique take on a traditional fruit pie that's perfect for the holiday season! Serve with vanilla ice cream and an extra drizzle of salted caramel for a wonderful, cozy dessert.
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 recipe for homemade pie crust*
- Filling
- 6 to 8 slightly ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears (3 ½ pounds), peeled and diced into ½ inch pieces
- ¼ cup (53g) packed dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- Crumble
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (107g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (57g) roughly chopped raw chopped pecans
- 5 tablespoons (71g) salted butter, melted
- Salted caramel
- ½ cup salted caramel (from the jar), plus extra for serving
Instructions
- Make the pie crust: Make the pie dough and shape the crust in a pie pan ahead of time, then store covered in the fridge so that it is cold. You can follow my recipe for an all butter flaky pie crust, use your favorite recipe, or a store-bought crust.
- Preheat the oven: Place a large sheet pan in the oven on the middle rack. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (The pie pan will eventually go on top of the sheet pan to catch anything that may leak over, and will help cook the bottom of the pie crust.)
- Make the filling: In a large bowl, add the pears, brown sugar, granulated sugar, bourbon, vanilla extract, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and allspice. Use your hands to toss until the pears are well-coated. Allow the mixture to sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Make the dutch crumble topping: in a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and pecans. Add in the melted butter and stir together with a fork until it begins to form into crumbles and resembles clumps of wet sand. You may need to use your hands/fingers to form into big crumbs. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Assemble the pie: Remove pie pan with the pie crust from the refrigerator. Use a slotted spoon to spoon the pear filling evenly into the crust, allowing any extra pear juice to remain in the bowl. Add ½ cup salted caramel all over the pear filling, then evenly top with the crumble.
- Bake: Transfer the pie to the baking sheet in the oven then bake for 50 to 65 minutes or until the filling is very bubbly and the crumble is golden brown. Check the pie after 30 minutes to make sure the crust isn’t burning. If it is getting too golden brown, simply cover pie edges with foil or pie shield.
- Cool and serve: Allow pie to cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours before cutting into (this is annoying, but if you cut into it before then the pie filling won't be set). The longer the pie rests, the easier it is to serve! Serves 9. Great with vanilla bean ice cream and extra warm salted caramel drizzled on top. Enjoy!
Notes
*You can also use your favorite store-bought pie crust for ease.
Feel free to use homemade or store-bought salted caramel. I used Smucker's brand and it was perfect.
To make dairy-free: use dairy-free butter in the pie crust (or use a store-bought dairy-free pie crust) and the crumble topping. Then use a dairy-free salted caramel.
To make ahead: If you’re prepping this for the holidays or a special occasion, feel free to bake this pie 2-3 days ahead of time. It will hold up well at room temperature, then after a few days, it should be transferred to the fridge for optimal freshness.
Alternatively, you can make my Perfect All Butter Pie Crust up to 1 week ahead of time and keep it in your fridge, or up to 3 months in your freezer.
See the full post for all of my tips, tricks & storing instructions for this pie!