This delicious Pear Pie with Crumb Topping has a flaky gluten free Hazelnut Crust and a moist ooey gooey pear filling. Perfect with a cup of tea!
What’s a holiday without pie? The last pie I made was Apple Pie for 4th of July. It is time to make another one for the upcoming holidays as homemade pies are delicious and a joy to make. With a member of the family having gluten intolerance, I wanted this pie to have a gluten-free crust. I have tried several gluten-free crust but this is by far the best. My boys said the pie was the best I have ever made, gluten-free or not. It was gone in two sittings and they requested that I make it again soon. This will definitely be on our Thanksgiving table at the end of the month. 🙂
This pie was made in the beautiful pie dish I received from CSN to review. There were so many things that I could have chosen but I fell for this sky blue Emile Henry pie dish. I have heard that pie crust made with these dishes are great and I could not wait to try it for myself.
I was really excited when the package arrived. Upon opening the box, I saw that it was quite well packed. The colored glaze is gorgeous and it extends into the interior of the dish. Most of the other Emile Henry pie dishes have the color on the outside with a white interior. So far so good but the test is in the pudding, right? Well, it certainly did live up to its name. The crust was evenly browned at the bottom and the release was superb. The cleanup was really easy too. One small thing to remember when using this dish is to set it on a coaster as the base is not smooth and may scratch your surfaces. Overall, I am really happy with the product and will definitely recommend it.
Now, back to this Pear Pie with Crumb Topping and GF Hazelnut Crust. I have always wanted to make a crust with nut meal and so I searched the web and found this recipe from Wholefoods. I made a few changes which included using hazelnut meal instead of almond meal, omitting the egg, and increasing the amount of flour used as I had a slightly larger pie dish. Even without the egg, the dough held up beautifully. The hazelnut meal made the crust very fragrant and with a little more sugar, it would make very tasty cookies.
I used pears for the filling as there are an abundance of pears at the stores right now. Choose firm pears as they will stand up better with the baking. Bartlett or d’Anjou would be good choices. I used d’Anjou because it was on sale and they were nice and firm.
For the crumb topping, I used this gluten-free golden flax crunch but please use any granola or cereal of your choice. The idea is to give it a nice crunchy topping.
This is the first time I’m using the food processor to make the dough. I used the dough blade and it worked quite well. I think from now on, I will use this method as it was fast and easy. If you are mixing the dough in a bowl, use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Pear Pie with Crumb Topping and GF Hazelnut Crust
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup organic flax crunch (crushed or choice of granola mix)
- ¼ cup brown rice flour (38g)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (45g)
- 2 tbsp butter
Gluten-Free Hazelnut Crust
- ½ cup potato starch (plus extra for dusting) (90g)
- ½ cup tapioca flour (60g)
- ½ cup brown rice flour (75g)
- ½ cup hazelnut meal (50g)
- 1 stick cold salted butter (cut into small pieces) (½ cup/115g)
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional)
- ¼ cup half-and-half (60ml)
Filling
- 5 firm d’Anjou pears (peeled, cored and sliced thinly)
- ½ cup brown sugar (90g)
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp tapioca starch
Instructions
For the Crumb Topping
- Combine flax crunch and brown rice flour in a medium sized bowl. Cut in butter. Stir to get ingredients well mixed.
For the Crust
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Put potato starch, tapioca flour, brown rice, hazelnut meal, powdered sugar in food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and sugar. Pulse again until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add half-and-half and pulse again until a sticky dough forms.
- Turn dough onto a large sheet of wax paper. Knead gently until dough holds together. At this point, dough is sticky but pliable. Place another sheet of wax paper on top of dough. With a rolling pin, roll dough into a 12-inch circle.
- Peel off the top layer of wax paper. Invert onto a 10-inch pie dish, patching if needed. Trim and crimp edges as desired. Prick side and bottom with a fork.
- Line crust with double layer of foil and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove and reduce oven temperature to 350°F (180°C).
Putting it together
- Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Spoon into pie crust. Sprinkle crumb topping on top of fruits.
- Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Remove and allow pie to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
You can’t tell the dough is gluten-free. The pastry was fragrant and flaky and the filling, moist and gooey…very delicious indeed!
I am sending this Pear Pie with Crumb Topping and GF Hazelnut Crust to Faith and Brandy for their All Through the Year Cheer Thanksgiving event.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
lequan says
Great choice of product to review, Biren. I love the look and colour of your pie dish. Your pie looks so delicious with that crispy top of golden flax crunch, great idea to help crisp up the top. I’ve never had a pear pie before. My biggest complaint with some pies is that sometimes the baker doesnt add enough filling. I can see you didn’t skimp out and added lots of slices of pears to your pie. This looks delectable. I liked the tip on putting another piece of wax paper on top of the dough before rolling. This makes the rolling part smooth, easy, and no sticky mess. Great recipe and pictures. I hope you’re feeling better, Biren.
Biren says
Thanks LeQuan! I like my pie with lots of fruit too. Pear is my boys’ favorite and so a pear pie is always well received. First time using the flax crunch and this is the crunchiest topping I’ve ever made. Many first here…LOL!
I am feeling much, much better. Still a slight cough but I am up and about. You are such a sweetie for asking 🙂
lequan says
Yay to feeling better, dear! Happy to hear that 😀 Must’ve been that delicious congee 😉
Monet says
Thank you so much for sharing this! My good friend can’t tolerate gluten, and I always feel so bad when I serve desserts she can’t eat! I adore pears, and I adore pie…so you know I’m excited about this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Biren says
There seems to be many people who can’t tolerate gluten these days. I will be posting more gluten-free recipes in the coming days.
Little Inbox says
Hmm…this sounds really yummy!
Margaret Murphy Tripp says
Beautiful photos! The pie looks really delicious!
denise @ quickies on the dinner table says
Oh my goodness! Biren I am so envious, I think I may break out in hives!!! That shade of blue is my absolute favourite colour of all! My kitchenaid mixer is the same colour, and so is my balcony – my favourite part of my apartment *sigh* It’s so beautiful and hearing that it bakes so beautifully, makes me want to rush out and buy one. I have seen the same Emile Henry piece in the stores here but not in this colour. Now I won’t be at peace until I get one 😛
Anyway your pie is absolutely gorgeous! I imagine it would be amazing with fragrant toasty hazelnuts. Sorry to hear your boy has gluten intolerance – I would be miserable if I couldn’t have wheat 🙁
October was pumpkin month for me, but November will be pear month LOL I have been on a pear bender too – more and more pear varieties are coming in and I just made something with pears again 😀
Biren says
LOL! Oh Denise, if you and I were to live close to each other we would be broke just visiting those kitchen and lifestyle stores. You must have that Martha Stewart blue color for your KitchenAid mixer. I don’t have one yet as I seldom make cakes but am thinking about it. I like the buttercup yellow but the silver is more in keeping with the rest of my appliances. The KitchenAid stainless steel food processor you see here is this year’s birthday gift from hubby 🙂
I love baking with hazelnuts as they are so fragrant. I would be happy with just the crust itself. It is not fun to have gluten intolerance but the good thing is that there are a lot more products available these days. I am amzed at all the different kinds of noodles I can find at the stores. Perhaps I’ll do GF noodle galore one of these days.
Pears are my boys’ favorite and so anything with pear is always well received. A pear cake will be really good, don’t you think?
pigpigscorner says
I like what you did for the topping! Looks fantastic!
Sanjeeta kk says
The healthy and delicious breakfast I would love to have (sorry hog upon)any day and any time.
Anncoo says
This is looks so good Biren! And the pie dish..I love that color, beautiful 😉
Roxan says
Biren, this pie is beautiful!! And i am loving the pie dish. You made a great selection. I totally agree that a holiday isn’t complete without a pie. I haven’t made a pie in a while but I do love making them – basically just make the dough and fill it up with filling. there’s so much less clean up than making a cake or some other baked good. And pie with some fresh, in season pears? Heaven!
Mary says
What a fabulous looking dessert. It sounds delicious and the color of your pie plate reminds me of Sweden. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
torviewtoronto says
delicious pie
Joanne says
A pretty pie pan. Now THAT is exactly what i need to buy myself for thanksgiving (yes, I occasionally buy things for myself for Thanksgiving. Don’t judge.) This looks delicious! Do you take mail order requests?
Biren says
Thanks Joanne for the kind words and there is nothing wrong with buying yourself a gift 🙂 Perhaps someday I will take mail order requests……
Faith says
Thanks so much for sending the recipe our way for All Through the Year Cheer! Your pie is really lovely, Biren. I love the idea of using pears, and with the hazelnut crust this sounds really fantastic! Love the pie plate too! 🙂
Victoria says
I love that you made this dish gluten-free!! It just shows that you can tweak many dishes to suit people with intolerances if necessary. I love that pie dish, I have an Emile Henry pie dish too, but mine is the kind with the color on the outside only, haha. It’s so beautiful for serving pies and it cooks so nicely 🙂
Amanda @ bakingwithoutabox says
Beautiful dish and what a lovely pie!
Biren says
Thanks Amanda for your kind words. Thanks also for visiting 🙂
The Mom Chef ~ Taking on Magazines One Recipe at a Time says
I want, I want I want. There’s not much else to say. The pear pie looks fantastic. I even have vanilla ice cream so we’re all set on this end.
Stella says
I’ve never seen a pear pie like this, Biren-so nice! I mean, I’ve seen a pear crumble, but not a pie. And certainly not such a well held together pie. Oh, and I’m trying the crust in some application (this or other) for sure…:)
Julie M. says
Biren,
This is one beautiful pie. I love that it’s gluten free. I have a friend with celiac’s that would absolutely love this!
penny aka jeroxie says
beautiful homey pie. And it’s gluten free!
Lyndsey says
What a wonderful pie. I would love it for breakfast.
tigerfish says
I like that crumb topping! And what a beautiful dish you selected from CSNStores. 🙂
Tanantha @ I Just Love My Apron says
I ordered a pie pan from CSN store too! hehe but i picked the red one. Plus, I haven’t used it at all. Boo.
OMG Biren, this crust sounds amazing. Pear pie sounds very good to me right now. Ugh, I’m super hungry. It’s lunch now and i haven’t got lunch. By looking at your post, makes me crave for some pie!
Mr. Pineapple says
that is exactly what i need right now!!
Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective says
What a glorious looking pie. Pear sounds like a great substitution for apples…I want you pie pan!
Reeni says
What a beautiful pie plate! And even more beautiful pie! I really love the nut meals for baking – they have such wonderful flavor.
Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner says
Oh that looks amazing. I could go for a big ol’ slice right now.
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
elisabeth@foodandthriftfinds says
I’m glad I found your blog, and your amazing gluten free pie, that would be so welcome for Thanksgiving, for our gluten free guests, as well.
It looks superb…thanks for sharing!
kristy says
Oh man, how could I missed this lovely desserts! You better hand me a slice, Biren. You better do! haha….
Kristy
Jillyann says
What a gorgeous pie plate! Although I must say, your pie certainly does it justice. That sounds incredible and I love the gf hazelnut crust! Beautiful photos as always Biren.
Magic of Spice says
Fantastic pie…I could never do this, but I love the pie dish.
So I think I have just found Grely’s Christmas present and I will
give him this recipe along with it 😉
Gorgeous pie Biren!
Megan says
Hi Dear Biren! What a beautiful pie! And what a lovely pie plate! Super cool that they sent it to you! The color is such a lovely shade of robin’s egg blue. I am book-marking this GF recipe as it is hard to find some type of GF crust that tastes delicious!
Beautiful! xoxo
Megan
resourcesgreen says
Hi Biren. Its really looking very tasty. You even can find many different vegan recipes in the following link
http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/recipes/desserts-a-goodies-/almond-berry-licious-pie
Stella says
I made the filling of this pie and placed it in my typical crust that I always make-absolutely delicious. This is very solid recipe for anyone who is wondering…
Biren says
Stella, you are a sweetie! I am glad you tried the filling and liked it. 😀
Cathy says
We love this pie! You’re invited to come link it up (and your other pie recipes you may have) at our Pie Party here: http://www.ourminifamily.com/2014/03/its-pie-party.html
Have a great day,
~Cathy~
OurMiniFamily.com
Linda says
Thanks Cathy! I will check out your Pie Party. Sounds like fun.