Quick and Easy Pear Tart (made with puff pastry)
A perfect dessert for the cooler season, this Easy Pear Tart comes together in no time.
Pears are mixed with honey, butter and cinnamon for the best seasonal bite.
And, this simple pear tart is made with just 8 ingredients! I love a simple dessert on the weekend so this pear dessert hits all the right notes.
Puff pastry is one of the most versatile dessert ingredients which I keep in my freezer at all times; there are so many ways to bake with it and it’s such a lovely flaky pastry for desserts!
While apples get a lot of the dessert attention during this season, let’s take a moment to shine a light on sweet pears in this beautiful Fall dessert.
Why you’ll love this easy pear tart
- You don’t need a food processor or any special equipment to make this quick pear tart!
- All you need for the dough is store-bought puff pastry which you can find in the freezer section of most grocery stores.
- This puff pastry dessert is a great option for pastry lovers since it’s quick and easy to make!
- You just need a baking sheet for this rustic pear tart; no tart pan needed!
Ingredients needed to make this pear tart recipe
Frozen Puff Pastry: The base of this recipe, just thaw the puff pastry based on package instructions and then you’re good to go!
Pears: Fresh pears like Anjou pears are my favourite to use to make this tart but you could also try Bosc pears. Try to use ripe pears if you can! But don’t worry if you have a firm pear, it will still work just fine.
Honey: The sweetness of the honey goes perfectly with pears. If you don’t have honey, you can swap for maple syrup but note the tart will be a tad sweeter.
Butter: Butter mixed with honey is the perfect coating for those delicious pear slices.
Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg are the best seasonal spices to use.
All Purpose Flour: Helps the honey-butter mixture stick to the pears.
Walnuts: walnuts add a delicious crunch to this puff pastry dessert but you can replace them with pecans, almonds or pistachios!
How to make this quick pear tart
Step 1: **Important: thaw puff pastry according to package directions** Preheat oven to 400F. Line a large baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Step 2: Use a rolling pin to roll out the thawed puff pastry sheet into a 10 inch by 12-inch rectangle (approximately). Make a half-inch border around the tart by folding the sides of the dough over, using a fork to press down. Then use the fork to make dots throughout the middle of the tart and set aside.
Step 3: In a bowl mix together the honey, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Then add the sliced pears in the mixture and toss together gently to fully coat.
Step 4: Use a fork to remove the pear slices from the bowl and line up the pear slices on the puff pastry. Then, drizzle with up to 3 tablespoons of the remaining honey-butter mixture from the bowl. *If there is no remaining liquid simply move to the next step.*
Step 5: Bake for 25-35 minutes or until outer edges are dark golden brown.
Step 6: Remove the pear tart from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with walnut pieces before cutting and serving. Optional: serve with a dollop of mascarpone cheese or whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Expert tips
- The aromas coming from the kitchen when you bake this delicious pear tart are hard to resist! By itself this tart is divine but you could also top it with a dollop of mascarpone cheese or whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- This easy dessert is the perfect ending to any dinner or dinner party.
- Make sure the puff pastry is fully defrosted before using. If it still has a bit of a chill, let it sit out for about 5-10 minutes before using.
- Want to make this into a savoury appetizer? After the tart is baked, top with the chopped walnuts, a sprinkling of goat cheese and some fresh thyme.
- Keep an eye on the tart in the oven, you don’t want it to burn or get overcooked.
Common questions
What if my puff pastry comes in a square instead of a sheet?
Some frozen puff pastry brands are sold in a tight packaged square. If your puff pastry comes in a square instead of a sheet you’ll just need to spend a bit of extra time and effort to roll it out on a lightly floured surface. So, follow the defrosting instructions and then roll out the pastry in an 8×10 or 10-x12 inch rectangle before making this recipe, about 1/4 inch thick.
If I can’t find pears, can I make this pear tart with apples?
Yes! Thinly sliced apples would also work if you don’t have pears on hand at home.
Can I substitute the walnuts?
If you don’t want to use walnuts you can replace them with pecans, almonds or pistachios! If there is a nut allergy, simply omit the walnuts altogether and nut-free granola is a great choice as a topping instead.
Storage
This pear tart is most delicious the day it’s made! However, leftover pear tart can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. Reheat in the oven at 325F until just warmed, 5-10 minutes.
More pear recipes to love from the blog
Baked Pears with Cardamom Cream
Spiced Pear Baked French Toast
Spiced Oatmeal with Honey Pears
Quick and Easy Pear Tart (made with puff pastry)
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 2 large pears, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp all purpose flour
- chopped walnuts for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out the thawed puff pastry dough into a 10 inch by 12-inch rectangle (approximately). Make a half-inch border around the tart by folding the sides of the dough, using a fork to press down. Then use the fork to make dots throughout the middle of the tart and set aside.
- In a bowl mix together all of the honey, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Then toss the sliced pears in the mixture.
- Use a fork to remove the pear slices from the bowl and line up the pear slices on the puff pastry. Then, drizzle with up to 3 tablespoons of the remaining honey-butter mixture from the bowl. *If there is no remaining liquid simply move to the next step.*
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the edges are dark golden brown.
- Remove the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with walnut pieces before cutting and serving.
Easy and so tasty. We enjoyed tasting the pear flavor instead of some sugary sweet dessert. The spices were exactly spot on, wonderful fresh taste and not overly sweet!
It’s very elegant and tasty. Reminded me of a dessert from a fine French Bakery, I used Philo dough instead of puff pastry. (LOL thought I had puff pastry, but did not have any).
This is the loveliest review, thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the pear tart so much. And happy it worked out with phyllo too!
This was so easy and scrumptious! I had a bag of smaller bartlett pears that were ripe. We couldn’t possibly eat them all before they would spoil so pulled out 3 and made this. My family and I devoured it and it looked sooooo pretty! To be “fancy” just before serving, I sprinkled some powdered sugar on it, but certainly not necessary. Also, didn’t have any nuts, but really it didn’t need it, although I’m sure would have been delicious that way too. Making this for the holidays because of how easy, impressive looking and delicious it is.
Nicole, this is such a lovely review! I’m so happy to hear it was easy to make and delicious! Love your idea of adding some powdered sugar – that will be a lovely touch for the holidays too 🙂
I don’t understand, ingredients listed are 3T honey – but the instructions say to reserve 3T and stir the rest into the pear mix. How much is supposed to go in the pears please? Thanks, this looks delish!
Great question! I tried to make the instructions more clear in the recipe card. So use all of the honey in the honey, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour mixture. Then, remove the pear slices one at a time from the bowl, lining them up on the pastry. Finally, use 3 tablespoons of that honey-butter mixture remaining in the bowl to drizzle over the pears. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Same question because there wasn’t anything left over the recipe was unclear to me
Hi Dennis, great question – I think I can be more clear so I’ve edited the instructions further to say to use any leftover liquid in the bowl to drizzle over the pears (if any). I hope that helps and that you enjoy the recipe!
Just wondering if you peel the skin off the pears?
Hi Debra! You can leave the skin on the pears, no need to peel. As the pears bake the slices of pear soften for a nice texture when the tart is finished. I hope you enjoy the tart 🙂
Delicious and easy to make!
So wonderful to hear you enjoyed this recipe! One of my Fall favourites!
Easy and delicious
Wonderful to hear! So glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely delicious 😋
So happy to hear you enjoyed the tart!
This was DELICIOUS and so easy to make! I added some bluberries after placing the pears on the pastry…and the combination was wonderful. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! The blueberries would have been a tasty addition 🙂
Delicious and absolutely beautiful to present to family! I did toast the walnuts in a little salt-free butter which also added to this amazing pear tart. Thank you!
So wonderful to hear you all enjoyed it! And I love that you toasted the walnuts – so delicious!
lovely! easy and delicate! thank you!
Wonderful to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Have do you end up with 3TBS of the honey mixture after you’ve mixed in the pears? I had less than a tablespoon left in the bowl.
It depends on how ripe the pears are as they release some juices so if you had 1 tbsp thats ok! I hope the tart turned out well.
I thought this was overly sweet. I used Barlett pears and perhaps that’s why it was so sweet. But no salt is mentioned in the recipe. And there’s no indication whether the butter should have been salted or unsalted. I used unsalted. Perhaps you can clarify whether the butter should be salted or unsalted for those wanting to try this recipe in the future. Also I cooked mine for 30 minutes and I should have checked it at 25 min., as the tops of the puff pastry got a tad burnt.
Sorry to hear you found the dessert a tad too sweet. I appreciate the feedback on the recipe and made a few adjustments too. If you try it again let me know!
I made this today for Father’s Day brunch (my Dad loves pears). I didn’t realize how easy it was to worth with
puff pastry. The pears/honey/butter/cinnamon combo was delicious. This was so easy to make, yet looked impressive. But, my oven must be very different. I only cooked mine for maybe 25 minutes. thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! And good call sticking to your instincts for cooking time – oven temps can definitely be quite different!
Great recipe and so easy to make! I substituted the honey with maple syrup and should have used a bit less – the tart was a bit runny – but it was delicious nevertheless
So glad you enjoyed the tart! And thank you for the feedback on the honey / maple syrup. I’ll have a look at the recipe and perhaps make an adjustment 🙂
This looks scrumptious! I bought my pears today to make this!
Hooray! So love to hear this – I hope you enjoy the recipe!