Pear Fritters

You’ve probably had apple fritters before… But have you ever had pastry made with pears? Let pears shine in these deliciously sweet fruit-packed Pear Fritters!

I believe pears are one of the most underrated common fruits of all-time. And I’m sorry to say it, but I blame apples.

Don’t get me wrong; apples deserve all of their fame and popularity. There are an incredible plethora of varieties, they grow well in many places, and they can be incorporated into so many recipes. Plus, they’re fun to pick.

But what about pears?? Sure, there may not be quite as many varieties and you may not find too many pear-picking orchards around you. But in almost any recipe you can use apples in, you can use pears, too!

Apple fritters are my very favorite pastry treat, but every time I enjoy one, I find myself thinking, “wouldn’t pear fritters be delicious, too??” So, I finally went ahead and made them myself. And yes, they are indeed delicious. Apple fritters who??

Pear Fritter Recipe

To make these pear fritters, I simply slightly modified my apple fritter recipe (which is adapted from a Cook’s Country recipe). They’re easy to make, but like homemade donuts, they do require frying.

They also require fresh pears and pear juice. I wasn’t sure how easy pear juice would be to find, but I believe most grocery stores carry it (I was even able to find it through Amazon Fresh, which I was quite surprised about!).

Why are we as a people not drinking more pear juice?? We drink pretty much every other type of fruit juice, but it’s rare to see pear juice on a menu. And it’s delicious! After I finished my pear fritters, I enjoyed quite a few glasses of cold pear juice. Yum!

To make the fritters, start by dicing the pears into 1/4″ cubes. I used green d’anjou pears, but I think you could use barlett or bosc, too.

Place chopped pears on a paper towel lined baking sheet and pat dry with paper towels. This will remove excess moisture from the apples and keep fritters from getting soggy.

Nobody wants a soggy pear fritter!

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir pears into the flour mixture and toss until they’re well-coated.

In a separate medium size bowl, whisk together pear juice, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

Stir pear juice mixture into the flour/pear mixture until just incorporated, taking care not to over-mix.

Now it’s time to fry! In a dutch oven or a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat until the oil temperature reaches 350 degrees F.

Using a 1/3-cup, scoop batter and transfer into the oil. Only fry a few fritters at a time to ensure they’re not touching each other in the oil. Once the batter is in the oil, press down on it lightly with the back of a spoon to flatten.

Fry the fritters, trying your best to keep the oil at 350 degrees and no lower than 325 degrees. Flip the fritters after 2-3 minutes and let them fry an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side.

Once golden, transfer pear fritters to a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet lined with paper towels.

To make the pear fritter glaze, simply whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. Easy peasy.

Let the pear fritters cool a bit before drizzling each of them with about 1 Tbsp icing. And then let glaze set for about 10 minutes before enjoying.

And omg you will enjoy them.

If you are a fan of apple fritters, but are also wondering why pears aren’t getting more love, there’s a high chance you will love these pear fritters.

They’re perfectly sweet and thanks to the chopped pears and pear juice, have a wonderful fruity flavor.

Now I’m thinking about all the other apple desserts I love that could be transformed into pear desserts… Pear pie, baked pears, pear crisp, oh my!

But for now, I will enjoy every single bite of these pear fritters!

If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate pear into your cooking and cocktail-ing, check out my Ginger Lime Pear Sauce (I like it better than applesauce!) and my Pear Old Cubans. I also want to try these Chai Spiced Pear Muffins from Cherry on my Sundae!