Homemade Pear Doughnuts: A Delicious Summer Treat
- gwynnemiddleton
- Jul 21, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 25, 2024
On a recent trip to southern Alabama, I was patting myself on the back for timing the visit to coincide with the summer pear tree fruiting. My family planted a pear tree in our yard when I was a kid, and all these years later, it never fails to produce so much fruit each summer that most of the tree branches droop toward the earth under the weight. This year, my daughter and some cousins teamed up for a selective harvest. This mysterious green pear variety is too starchy to eat fresh, but they are perfect for cooking and baking recipes.
I filled my suitcase with the pear harvest and hauled them back to my Colorado kitchen with one recipe in mind: Pear Doughnuts. These fried treats are not quick to make. With the overnight rise and additional rise and preparation on doughnut day, you might wonder if they are worth the effort. I assure you they are, especially if you plan to eat them while they are fresh from frying. As someone who lives for contrast, each bite is crisp and chewy with a melt-in-your-mouth finish. If you prefer apples to pear, substitute away but aim for a tart apple variety like Granny Smith, which also tends to hold up to cooking without going to mush.
Pear Doughnuts Makes 12
Ingredients
Dough
1/2 cup milk
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting and kneading
1 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons pure cane sugar
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
Vegetable oil for frying
Pear mixture
2 medium firm pears, peeled, cored, and diced (The kind grown at my parents’ home are like Bartlett but firm, tart, and slightly starchy.)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons pure cane sugar
Glaze
1 cup confectioners sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk (I use half-and-half)
Directions
On the day before you want to eat doughnuts, you'll be preparing the dough for an overnight rise in the fridge.
Place the milk in a small saucepan, and heat on medium until you notice bubbles at the edges of the pan. Remove from heat, and let cool until the milk is about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the milk cools, grab a large bowl, and whisk together flour, yeast, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
After the milk has cooled, add the egg and vanilla extract to the milk and whisk to combine. Now, add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, and stir until it starts to come together. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead it until smooth, about 5 minutes.
This step gets messy, but you can persevere! Knead the butter into the dough. The dough be sticky and greasy, but resist the urge to add more flour. Continue kneading and stretching the dough until the butter is completely absorbed and the dough is smooth again. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight to allow for a slow rise.
Doughnut Day has arrived!
It's time to make the pear mixture that you'll add to the dough shortly. Add the diced pears to a bowl, and mix with the cider vinegar. Grab a medium-sized skillet (I recommend cast iron), and melt the remaining butter over medium heat. Sprinkle sugar over the melted butter and cook, stirring, until the sugar turns deep golden brown.
Pour in the pear and vinegar mixture, and stir to combine. Cook until the pears release some of their juice. The pear pieces should be tender but still hold their shape. This will take about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to a plate. Cook the remaining liquid down until thick and syrupy like a caramel sauce, about 3 minutes. Drizzle the caramel over the pears, and gently combine. Cool to room temperature.
While the pears are cooling, remove the dough from the fridge, and on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a large rectangle, with the short sides at the bottom and the top, about 1/4-inch thick.
You want to minimize the amount of juice that makes it to the dough so the dough doesn't get soggy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer half the pears to the bottom half of the rectangle, leaving most of the pear liquid behind. Fold the top half of the dough over the bottom half. Press the dough down to seal in the pears. Spread the rest of the pears, with as little liquid as possible, on the right half of the dough square. Then fold the left half of the dough over the pears and press to seal. Roll into a ball and transfer it back to the lightly-oiled bowl, cover, and let double in size. This could take between 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
When it has doubled, transfer the dough back to the floured surface, press into a big square. Use the bench scraper to cut the dough into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a rough ball. If a pear falls out, push it back into the dough, and live your life. Transfer the balls to a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Cover with the plastic wrap you used for the initial overnight rise, and let future doughnuts puff up. This will take about 20-30 minutes.
Heat a few inches of oil in a large, cast-iron pot until the oil reached about 360 degrees Fahrenheit. (You'll want to maintain that temperature throughout the frying process.) While the oil is heating, whisk together the glaze ingredients (confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and milk). You want a thin glaze, so add a little extra milk to reach that consistency.
Carefully lower the dough into the oil. Add a few more dough pieces but don’t crowd the pan where they might touch each other and stick together. Cook until they are golden brown and puffed and flip halfway through the frying to ensure a fully cooked doughnut. You're looking at 2-3 minutes, max.
Remove the doughnuts from the oil, and place on a paper-towel lined baking sheet for a few minutes to drain off excess oil.
Then, transfer the doughnuts to a cooling rack, and use a pastry brush to coat them in glaze. I love them best when still warm.
