Rustic Pear Galette with Walnut Crust – a cozy fall dessert, that is easy to make- perfect for fall gatherings, holidays and parties. A delicious rustic tart can be made ahead!
Hello fall! I’m loving these brisk fall days with all the red and yellow leaves swirling in the breeze. The prettiest time of year in my opinion! I couldn’t let October get away without making one of my favorite fall desserts – a Rustic Pear Galette with Walnut Crust – a very autumnal dessert, perfect for fall gatherings and grown-up Halloween parties. This version is filled with cardamom and vanilla scented pears, enclosed in an earthy walnut crust. Not too sweet, the Pear Galette satisfies without being overly cloying. And of course it’s delicious with vanilla ice-cream.
This year I’ve partnered with California Walnuts and couldn’t be more delighted. The addition of walnuts to the crust really gives it another layer of flavor and complexity, along with an incredible crisp texture. Plus walnuts are nutritious, heart-healthy1 and offer good fats. They are also low in cholesterol and are the only nut with a significant amount of plant-based omega-3 ALA (2.5 grams/ounce). A delicious way to incorporate more walnuts into our diet!
Not coincidentally, pears and walnuts are in season at the same time, in early fall, which in my mind, means they absolutely belong together!
Such a happy marriage of flavors…
Make the simple walnut dough and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to a few days before, to let the flour fully hydrate.
Toss the fresh pears with sugar, cardamom, vanilla and lemon.
When the galette comes out of the oven, it will be beautifully golden and oh so fragrant. The walnut crust, crisps up beautifully.
Let it cool just a bit before cutting.
Then dig in and enjoy.
The leftovers make a luxurious breakfast, perfect with morning coffee.
I hope you give this Rustic Pear Galette with Walnut Crust, a try this fall season, I know you will love it!
Here are more Cozy Fall Recipes you may enjoy!
Happy week!
xo
Rustic Pear Tart with Walnut Crust
- Prep Time: 60 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: dessert, sweets, fall dessert
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: Northwest
Description
Rustic Pear Galette with Walnut Crust – a cozy fall dessert that is easy to make- perfect for fall gatherings, holidays and parties. A delicious rustic tart that can be made ahead.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place walnuts in a food processor and pulse repeatedly, until ground, like course sand. Add flour, sugar, salt and pulse. Cut butter into 8-10 pieces and pulse repeatedly, again to consistency of course sand. Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing until dough clumps and forms a ball. You may need to add another tablespoon -check dough by pinching it together. If it feels crumbly add another tablespoon water, if it sticks together well, it is fine. Place on a floured surface, gather into a ball, flatten with the palm of your hand, gather again into a ball, flatten again. Form into a ball, flatten to an inch thick disk and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. This will allow the flour to hydrate.
- After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 400F
- Pull dough out of the fridge, and let sit for 20- 30 minutes.
- Cut the pears in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds with a melon baller. Slice into ⅓ inch slices. Toss with sugar, spices, vanilla and lemon, zest, salt and flour. Let stand until the pears release their liquid and the sugar dissolves, about 15 minutes.
- Place the dough in between two lightly floured pieces of parchment and gently roll into a disk about 14 inches wide ( ⅛ -¼ inch thick) rolling out from the middle and keeping the edges a little thicker. If the edges get too thin, you can fold them over towards the middle about ⅛ – ¼ inch to strengthen them so they don’t tear. Place this on a sheet pan ( over the parchment). At this point if dough feels too warm, put it back into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes so it firms up, so it’s easier to fold the edges up.
- Using a slotted spoon, arrange the pears in in the center of the dough leaving a 1 ½ inch border. (Do not “dump” the pears onto the tart shell, it may have too much liquid). Fold the edges up and around the pears, pleating and folding a bit. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to use all the liquid from the pears, unless you think they seem dry. A little juice is good, but not too much. Dot the pears with butter if you like.
- Egg wash the crust if you like for a shine, sprinkle with course sugar and bake 30 – 40 minutes at 400F, or until golden and bubbling.
- Wait 10-15 minutes before cutting into it.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: pear dessert recipes, fall recipes, pear tart, pear galette, rustic galette, walnut crust, pear dessert recipe, pear recipes, best galette crust
1Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. One ounce of walnuts provides 18g of total fat, 2.5g of monounsaturated fat, 13g of polyunsaturated fat, including 2.5g of alpha-linolenic acid, the plant-based omega-3.
We made this for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it, from those who love the sweetest sweets to those who only want a little sweet. Trapped at home in the snow this week, I’ve been wishing I’d bought some pears! Thanks for this gorgeous and delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Glad everyone enjoyed it Suz!
Do you think the pastry would work if I subbed GF flour?
Hi Melissa- I think so? But haven’t tried. You may have to adjust the water bit so dough is not dry or crumbly.
dry as can be. Hot, with ice cream would be the best way to serve this.
★★★
So looking forward to the finished galette!! I just made the crust by weighing out 10.5 oz of AP flour on my scale. When I could not bring the dough together into a ball, I realized that 10.5 oz of flour weighed is nearly 300g but that 1 2/3 cups of flour in volume is just 200g so I increased all of the other ingredients in proportion and now have a nice disk chilling in my frig. Did I do the right thing?
I think so! That’s what I would have done. 😉 Let me know how it turns out.
It turned out great!! Everyone loved it 🙂
Thanks Leelee!
The best crust! I’ve been using it as a base for various fillings.
★★★★★
If there was ever a dessert recipe that is 100% autumn is this one! Not too sweet but very deep comforting flavors that made me feel all warm and cosy. Another plus for me is the fact that you just use a sheet pan and can make it however big or small you want according to how many people you’re having over.
The nuttiness of the crust was so delish I’ll be using this crust for my apple galette recipe as well! Thanks for your continuous foolproof delicious recipes!
★★★★★
Thanks so much!
Can you cook this in a cast iron skillet like your peach recipe?
Great question. I haven’t tried it Karen! I don’t see why not, but my only hesitation is I’m not sure how the nuts in the crust would fare in the skillet.
Absolutely delicious. The crust is amazing and the spices with the pears make it over the top. Served it for dessert after also making your minestrone soup on this cold snowy day in Montreal. Thanks for the great comfort meal!
★★★★★
Yay! Im so glad you liked it. I love the crust too!
If you were going to make gluten free, what would you sub flour for?
Sheryl, that is a great question. I’m not an expert at gluten-free baking, but I think a GF all-purpose flour blend could work.
There is a mistake in this recipe for the crust. Recipe states 6 oz of butter- which is 12 Tbl. It should say 3 oz or 6 Tbl. I didn’t catch this until it was too late. While it was delicious to eat in the end, it made a smoky, buttery mess in my oven! Would make again with the proper amount of butter. Walnuts are a lovely addition to the crust. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★
Tana…Im sorry about that, yes you are right! I fixed the recipe! 6 tablespoons is 3 ounces. Sorry again!
This was delightful. I think I botched the crust (not sure how), but I salvaged it. It was just a big dry and crumbly, hard to manage. I loved this delicious treat.
★★★★★
It sounds like too much flour? Sorry about that.