This balsamic molasses pear galette is made with an all-butter, flaky pie crust and balsamic molasses soaked pears topped with spiced sugar!
This pear galette is far easier than a homemade pie, but tastes just as delicious! It's the perfect easy, yet impressive dessert for any gathering during the holidays. Of course, I also highly recommend making it just because, topping with vanilla ice cream, and enjoying right off of the baking sheet😉
For more pie recipes, try Maple Pumpkin Hand Pies, Pecan Brownie Pie, Black Bottom Pumpkin Custard Pie, and Homemade All Butter Pie Crust.
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Why you'll love this pear galette
- Buttery, Flaky Pie Crust: My go-to all butter pie dough that creates an ultra flaky, tender crust that's perfect with any pie filling.
- Balsamic Molasses Soaked Pears: The sweet, deep flavors of reduced balsamic vinegar married with rich molasses are magical with fall bosc pears.
- Quick & Easy: As a rustic, open-face pie, galettes require only some pie dough prep and a super simple fruit filling. So they're even easier than pie!
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: Weigh your flour! Homemade pie dough is very simple, so long as everything is measured precisely!
- Salt: Use kosher salt, not table salt.
- Butter: Since there are so few ingredients in pie dough, it gets all of its flavor from the butter, so be sure to use high-quality unsalted butter.
- Ice Water: Pie must be cold at all times, so it's important that the water is iced!
- Balsamic Vinegar: You'll need to start out with twice as much balsamic vinegar, since it will be reduced over the stove.
- Unsulphured Molasses: Highly recommend Grandma's Molasses.
- Egg Wash: Beat one egg with one tablespoon of water, and brush on top of the hand pies before baking to help them brown evenly.
- Spiced Sugar:Â Combine a couple tablespoons of sugar with some fall spices and sprinkle on top of the galette before baking.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.
Step by Step Instructions
Do not be intimidated by this galette recipe! It's shockingly easy and so fun to make. The extra steps of rolling out & folding the pie dough are not really necessary, but it adds so much flakiness and actually makes it easier to work with when assembling. And the soaked pears sound fancy, but are deceptively easy. And the best part about galettes is that their rustic character is what makes them beautiful! So need to fuss with making it look perfect. So long as it's topped with ice cream, everyone will love it 🙂
For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.
STEP 1: Make the dough. Make the pie dough and chill overnight. For more detailed step by step instructions, see this 3 Ingredient Pie Crust Recipe. Â
STEP 2: Prep and soak. Reduce the balsamic over the stove, then combine with the molasses and vanilla. Cut the pears and allow to soak while the dough is rolled out.Â
STEP 3: Assemble. Roll the dough out to ⅛" in thickness, then transfer to a baking sheet. Arrange the soaked pears on the dough, sprinkle the spiced sugar on top, then fold the edges of the dough over on to the pears. Add a few tablespoons of butter on top, brush the edges with an egg wash & sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and bake!
STEP 4: Bake and top. Bake the pear galette at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for another half hour or so, then top with vanilla ice cream & enjoy!
Expert Baking Tips
- For more detailed step by step instructions on how to make homemade pie dough, see this post.
- If you have vodka on hand, you can add a tablespoon or two to the pie dough before the water. You'll end up adding less water, so still pay close attention to the hydration level. Vodka does not develop the gluten as much, which makes it perfect for hydrating pie dough and creating a super tender pie crust!
- The most important thing with making pie crust is to always keep the dough cold at all steps. So use ice cold water and cold butter, and any time you touch the dough you should put it back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- If you'd prefer, you can slice the pears all the way through.
- Save the remainder of the balsamic molasses for drizzling on top after it's baked!
Recipe FAQs
Cut cold cubed butter into the flour until quarter sized pieces are left. Roll the chilled pie dough out into a rough rectangle, then fold it into quarters. Chill for a few minutes, then repeat. This series of rolling and folding creates layers and layers of butter and dough. When the pie dough is baked, the butter creates steam and pushes the layers of dough upwards, creating an ultra flaky, buttery crust!
Of course! You can use store-bought pie dough or puff pastry.
Yes, you can make the pie dough up to a few days in advance stored in the fridge or months stored in the freezer. If you freeze the pie dough, allow it to defrost overnight in the fridge. You can also prep the balsamic molasses several days ahead of time. I recommend cutting the pears and baking the galette the day you are planning on serving it, as baked pie crust is best the day it is baked.
Baking in Grams
All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale.
If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.
But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!
Happy baking! x
Other fall recipes to try
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to know how it turned out for you! Leave a star rating & review below and post a picture (or video!) on Instagram and tag me so I can see your bakes! Not ready to make this recipe yet? Click the heart button on the right of your screen to save it for later 🙂
📖 Recipe
Balsamic Molasses Pear Galette
Equipment
Ingredients
For the pie dough:
- 200 g (1 â…” cup) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 140 g (10 tablespoon) unsalted butter, cold & cubed
- ½ cup ice water
For the balsamic molasses pears:
- 227 g (1 cup) balsamic vinegar
- 170 g (¾ cup) unsulphured molasses
- 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 4 bosc pears
For the spiced sugar:
- 25 g (2 tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For assembly:
- 42 g (3 tablespoon) unsalted butter
- Egg wash, 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water
- Turbinado sugar
Instructions
For the pie dough:
- In a medium bowl combine the flour and salt.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss in the flour. Â
- Using your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until pea sized pieces are left. Â
- Add a couple tablespoon of water, then toss with your hands to combine.Â
- Continue adding very small amounts of water until the dough can hold together, but is not overly wet.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then chill for one hour.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rough rectangle, fold in half, then again into quarters.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for another 30 minutes.Â
- Roll the dough out again into a rough rectangle and repeat the folding process.
- Shape the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and chill overnight.Â
For the balsamic molasses pears:
- In a small saucepan, add the balsamic vinegar and place over medium heat.
- Boil until reduced to half, about 10 minutes.Â
- Weigh out 113g (½ cup) of the balsamic vinegar into a large bowl.Â
- Mix in the molasses and vanilla bean paste. Set aside.
- Cut the pears in half, core them, then cut them into slices, keeping the top intact.*
- Place the sliced pears into the balsamic molasses mixture and allow to soak.Â
- Meanwhile, make the spiced sugar and roll out the pie dough.
For the spiced sugar:
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, spices, and salt. Set aside.
For assembly:Â
- Preheat the oven to 4oo degrees F.
- On a large piece of parchment paper, roll the pie dough out into a circle about â…›" in thickness.
- Transfer the pie dough to a large baking sheet.Â
- Arrange the soaked pears onto the pie dough, leaving a border around the edge.Â
- Sprinkle the spiced sugar all over the pears and in between the slices.Â
- Fold the edges of the pie dough over onto the pears, then brush them with an egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Â
- Place the butter on top of the pears.
- Bake the galette for about 30 minutes or until the pie crust is evenly golden and the filling is bubbling.Â
- Allow the galette to cool on the baking sheet for another half hour or so.Â
- Top with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Notes
- For more detailed step by step instructions on how to make homemade pie dough, see this post.
- If you have vodka on hand, you can add a tablespoon or two to the pie dough before the water. You'll end up adding less water, so still pay close attention to the hydration level. Vodka does not develop the gluten as much, which makes it perfect for hydrating pie dough and creating a super tender pie crust!
- The most important thing with making pie crust is to always keep the dough cold at all steps. So use ice cold water and cold butter, and any time you touch the dough you should put it back in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.Â
- If you'd prefer, you can slice the pears all the way through.Â
- Save the remainder of the balsamic molasses for drizzling on top after it's baked!
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