Spiced Pear Cobbler

Spiced pear cobbler is the sweet but not too sweet treat that makes for a delicious fall dessert. A layer of homemade buttermilk biscuits on top of sliced pears, spiced with cinnamon and ginger. Serve yours with salted caramel ice cream for a treat that will have them coming back for more.

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When it comes to fall treats nothing beats the combination of fresh, seasonal fruit combined with the warm spices of ginger and cinnamon. From apples to persimmons, these warming spices are just what the cooler temperatures need. While I often enjoy spiced pears in oatmeal, today, I’m bringing them together in this delicious fall dessert: spiced pear cobbler.

Whether you like yours warm or cold, with ice cream or without, you are sure to fall in love with the flavors of this spiced pear cobbler. It’s just sweet enough without being too sweet and pairs nicely with caramel, toffee, vanilla, or sweet cream ice cream.

This one comes together faster than it bakes, which makes it the perfect excuse to fire up your oven on a chilly fall day. You can warm up your kitchen, then fill up your belly.

Fruit Desserts: Cobblers, Crisps, Crumbles

Cobblers, crisps, crumbles, and pies all have one thing in common: fruit. What they don’t have in common is what you put on top of them. While crisps and crumbles, like my Butterscotch Apple Crisp, have a similar, dry crumbly topping, cobblers get a biscuit topping. Preferably a sweet, buttermilk biscuit topping.

Many cobbler recipes call for a two step cooking process. You start by cooking the fruit along with flour, butter, sugar, and spices on the stove top to help it thicken, then finish it in the oven so the topping bakes.

In my kitchen we do things a bit differently. Instead of pre-cooking the fruit mixture, I toss the sliced fruit with sugar, spices, and cornstarch instead of flour. The cornstarch coats the pears and then goes to work in the oven to thicken the fruit.

The one thing that doesn’t do is incorporate the butter, which helps to give the final result a creamier texture. After a few tests I realized that mother knows best, and went back to a trick my mom taught me when I was little. Simply slice the butter into chunks and arrange them on top of the fruit before piling on the biscuit topping. As the cobbler bakes the butter melts and soaks down into the fruit.

Buttermilk Biscuit Topping

The biscuit topping for this pear cobbler is made with brown sugar, which gives it that slightly caramel color, and the batter is a bit thinner than my normal biscuit recipe.

Since the dough is very sticky, it’s easier to drop chunks of dough into place and then smooth it out to fill in the spaces. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly even. As it bakes the dough will fill in the small gaps and spaces.

I like to sprinkle a bit of raw sugar on top of mine before baking to give it that added sweet crunch, but it’s totally optional.

This spiced pear cobbler, tastes best on the first day while still warm. I know it will last at least two days in the fridge, but we’ve always eaten it before day three.

Spiced Pear Cobbler Recipe

Spiced pear cobbler is a tasty fall treat. Sweet but not too sweet, with a layer of lightly spiced pears and a homemade buttermilk biscuit topping. Serve yours warm with your favorite ice cream, whipped cream, or nothing extra at all.

To make a complete fall dinner, try this pear cobbler after a meal of pork chops with mustard shallot gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, and screaming green beans. For other dessert ideas, see all of my desserts, treats, and snacks recipes.

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Spiced Pear Cobbler

Spiced pear cobbler with a buttermilk biscuit topping. Layers of juicy, spiced pears, and tender buttery biscuits. All the flavors of fall.

4.9 stars (10 ratings)

prep: 15 minutes minutes

cook: 45 minutes minutes

total: 1 hour hour

servings: 8 servings

author: Renee N Gardner

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Ingredients

Pear Filling

• 4 pears (about 4 cups chopped)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 4 tbsp butter (sliced)

Biscuit Topping

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/8 tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp butter (cubed)
• 1 cup buttermilk

Optional Topping

• 1 tsp raw sugar

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, making sure a rack is lined up for the center of the oven. 
• Peel, core, and slice pears.
• In a large mixing bowl combine pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cornstarch from the filling section. Mix to thoroughly coat.
• Pour pear mixture into the bottom of a 2 quart pan. Spread sliced butter evenly atop the pear mixture.
• In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and soda from the biscuit topping section.
• Add in the cold, cubed butter and crumble into the flour. The butter crumbles should be the size of small pebbles. *See notes.
• Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir until combined. The batter should be heavy and sticky.
• Spoon the batter onto the top of the fruit filling, spreading it out as best as you can.
• Optional: Sprinkle a teaspoon of raw sugar on top of the cobbler prior to baking. It adds a little bit of crunch, but it also makes the top sparkle.
• Place the cobbler on the middle rack and bake at 350 degrees for 40 – 50 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden brown.

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Notes

*Mixing the biscuit topping can also be done in a food processor. Pulse until the butter is the size of small pebbles then pulse as the buttermilk is added. I prefer to do it by hand because I don't like cleaning my food processor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 429kcalCarbohydrates: 80gProtein: 5gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 499mgFiber: 10gSugar: 42g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.

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