Description
A comforting vegan pear pie infused with warm chai spices and wrapped in a flaky, buttery vegan crust. Naturally sweet and perfect for any season, this plant-based dessert combines tender pears with fragrant cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg for a cozy treat.
Ingredients
6 ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
½ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1 tbsp lemon juice
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of black pepper
1 tsp vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup vegan butter or solid coconut oil, chilled
5–7 tbsp ice water
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the chilled vegan butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just holds together.
- Divide the dough in half, wrap each in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
- Make the filling: Toss the sliced pears with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, spices, and vanilla in a large bowl. Let sit while rolling out the crust.
- Roll out one half of the dough to fit a 9-inch pie dish and fill it with the pear mixture.
- Roll out the second half of the dough and place it on top as a full crust or lattice. Seal and crimp edges; cut slits if using a full top crust.
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Brush the top crust with plant-based milk and optionally sprinkle coarse sugar.
- Bake for 50–60 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles.
- Cool the pie for at least 2 hours before slicing to allow the filling to set.
Notes
Swap pears for apples or a mix of both for variation.
Add chopped walnuts or pecans to the filling for extra crunch.
Use a gluten-free flour blend to make the crust gluten-free.
Replace sugar with maple syrup or date syrup for natural sweetness.
Store leftovers covered in the fridge up to 4 days; reheat in oven at 350°F (175°C) for 10-15 minutes.
Pie freezes well up to 2 months; thaw overnight in fridge before reheating.
To make a lattice crust, cut top dough into ½-inch strips and weave over the pie.
Prepare filling and crust separately in advance and assemble before baking for best results.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50-60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan, American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/8 of pie)
- Calories: approx. 280
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
