Description
Sweet, tender pears baked under a golden biscuit topping with a warm ginger snap—simple, soothing, and so good. This cozy fall dessert comes together in one pan and adapts easily to gluten-free and dairy-free options.
Ingredients
Scale
- 6 ripe but firm pears (about 2½ lb / 1.1 kg), peeled, cored, sliced ½-inch thick (Bosc or Anjou work best)
- ⅓ cup (65 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger (or 2 teaspoons ground ginger)
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (optional for extra zing)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15 ml)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (16 g) or arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or seeds scraped from ½ vanilla bean
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (14 g), cut into small bits (optional; use plant butter for dairy-free)
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour (or 1:1 gluten-free blend)
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (56 g) cold unsalted butter, diced (or plant butter for dairy-free)
- ½ cup (120 ml) cold buttermilk (or dairy-free milk + 1 tsp lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger or ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly butter your skillet or baking dish if not using cast-iron.
- In a large bowl, toss pears with both sugars, crystallized and/or ground ginger, fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, lemon juice, cornstarch, and vanilla paste. Transfer to the pan and dot with butter or plant butter.
- In another bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in cold butter until sandy with pea-size bits. Stir in buttermilk and ginger just until a shaggy dough forms—don’t overmix.
- Drop 8–10 rustic mounds of dough over the pears, leaving gaps for steam. Brush with milk (optional) and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the topping is golden and the filling bubbles thickly around the edges.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving to allow juices to set. Serve warm, ideally with vanilla yogurt or dairy-free ice cream.
Notes
Bosc pears hold their shape; Anjou pears stay tender. If pears are juicy, use 2½ tbsp starch. For less spice, reduce ginger. Make it in a 9×9 pan if no cast-iron. Add-ins like cranberries or pecans work great. For naturally sweetened filling, swap sugar with ¼ cup maple syrup + 1 tsp extra starch.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 310
- Sugar: 22g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 51g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 2g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
Keywords: pear cobbler, ginger dessert, fall baking, one-pan dessert, rustic cobbler