Our easy baked pears recipe transforms ordinary pears into an extraordinary dessert. Caramelized, tender, and melt-in-your-mouth pears, perfect with ice cream or whipped cream.
These baked pears are a show-stopping dessert! We start by caramelizing them in butter with a bit of sugar, then finish them in the oven with a splash of white wine, star anise, and cinnamon for an irresistible aroma and flavor.
You’ll be left with outrageously delicious pears and a kitchen that smells like a dream! As a bonus, the wine reduces to a light syrup. It’s perfect for drizzling over the pears (a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream doesn’t hurt, either!). For more pear recipes, be sure to check out our recipes for wine poached pears and vanilla pear muffins!
Key Ingredients
- Pears: I love Bosc pears for this recipe since the flesh is usually a bit firmer to the touch than other varieties. Any pear will work, but firmer ones will hold better when roasting in the oven. Asian pears are also excellent here.
- Sugar: To achieve a beautiful golden-brown, caramelized crust, I dust the pears with powdered sugar before cooking them in butter.
- Butter: I’m not always in the butter makes everything better camp, but with these roasted pears, it really does! I use salted. If you use unsalted, add an extra pinch of salt to the pot.
- Wine: The wine simmers and reduces into a light syrup you can spoon over the pears for serving. I love an off-dry white wine (like Riesling). If you want to forgo the wine, no problem. Use apple cider, apple juice, or pear juice instead.
- Spices: I love tossing a whole star anise and a cinnamon stick into the skillet, which perfumes the pears.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Baked Pears
Tip 1: Dust pears with sugar. Quarter and core your pears, then dust the cut sides with a light coating of powdered sugar. When you place the pears into hot butter, the sugar will melt and caramelize.
Tip 2: Brown in butter. We bake these pears, but first, we like to brown all the cut sides of the pears in butter. As the butter melts in an oven-safe skillet, add your pears and let them brown, moving occasionally so all cut sides become caramelized.
Tip 3: Finish in the oven. Before sliding the skillet into the oven, add a splash of wine, star anise, a cinnamon stick, and a small pinch of salt (if you used unsalted butter for browning). Then bake the pears until tender, and let the wine reduce into a light syrup. I love this with whipped cream or a really good quality vanilla ice cream.
More Easy Fruit Desserts
Perfect Baked Pears
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These caramelized baked pears are stunning. We add some wine and spices to the pears towards the end of cooking. As they finish cooking, the wine reduces into a thin syrup, which is excellent drizzled over the pears when serving. You can use apple cider or pear juice as a substitute for the wine.
You Will Need
4 Bosc pears, semi-ripe
⅓ cup powdered sugar (38g)
3 tablespoons butter (42g)
¾ cup off-dry white wine like Riesling (180ml)
1 whole star anise
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
Pinch sea salt, if using unsalted butter
Ice cream or homemade whipped cream for serving
Directions
1Prep: Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C).
2Prepare the pears: Quarter and core the pears, then dust the cut sides with powdered sugar.
3Brown them: Melt the butter in an oven-safe skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts and bubbles, add the pears, cut-side down, to the butter and cook, turning the pears so the cut sides become caramelized and browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
4Bake them: Flip the pears so that they are skin-side up. Pour in the wine and add the star anise, cinnamon stick, and a small pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter). Place the pan, uncovered, in the oven and roast until the pears are tender and the wine has reduced into a thin syrup, 15 to 20 minutes.
5Serve: Transfer the pears to a serving dish, drizzle with some syrup from the bottom of the pan, and top with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Wine substitutes: Use apple cider, apple juice, or pear juice.
- No oven-safe skillet: Use a regular skillet on the stovetop to caramelize the pears in butter, then transfer them to a baking dish with the wine and spices.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We did not include ice cream or whipped cream in the calculations.
I found this recipe when looking for a way to roast pears that I had on hand and realized I had all of the ingredients. It’s wonderful! I highly recommend.
We are thrilled you found us, Martha! Thank you for coming back and letting us know.
I didn’t have anise on hand, so I added a teensy bit of vanilla extract instead. These were increeeeeedible!!! Can only imagine how great they’d be with a scoop of ice cream!
Wonderful, Shannon! So happy you enjoyed them.
These pears are so wonderfully yummy that I had to make them two days in a row! The second day I added some shaved white cheddar cheese to add a little bite. Either way the pears were a great hit! Yummmmmm
Wow! I love your idea to add cheese (love the salty/sweet combo).
Oooooh! YUM! I actually have a big bag of pears on my counter from Costco that I need to use up and I was looking for something new and different to do with them. This is a great idea! They look wonderful! I have baked and roasted apples before, but never pears, though I don’t know why I never thought of that! 🙂