Pears are a wonderful Fall fruit that often get overshadowed by apples, so I was pleased to find a hundred-year-old recipe for Baked Pears. The pear halves were easy to make and very tasty. The Baked Pears were coated with a buttery brown sugar sauce.
I was surprised how little sauce this recipe made – just enough to coat the pear halves. There was not enough to spoon extra over the pears when serving. I did not really miss the extra sauce, but extra sauce would have made a nice presentation.
Here’s the original recipe:
I skipped the whipped cream when I made this recipe.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Baked Pears
8 pears (Use pears that are ripe, but still firm.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
whipped cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut the pears in half lengthwise, and then core the pears. Arrange the pear halves in a large baking dish (such as a lasagna dish or a rectangular cake pan). Sprinkle each pear (2 halves) with one tablespoon sugar, and dot each half with 2 or 3 small pieces of butter. Place in oven and bake until tender (about 30-35 minutes). Increase heat (425° F.) to lightly brown the pears. (The pears can be browned using the broiler, if a dish is used that can go under the broiler.)
Remove from oven. Best when served warm. If desired, serve with whipped cream.
Smaller versions of this recipe could easily be made. For each pear, just use a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a little butter.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I just got pears at the Farmers’ Market yesterday, thank you! Going to make these, I love recipes that let the fruit/veggie shine.
I think that you’ll like this recipe. It’s a nice one that let’s the pears “shine.” I actually just bought some more pears yesterday because my husband said that I should make it again.
Another recipe from my home ec days, c. 1958! A classic, for sure.
It’s nice to hear that this recipe brought back (hopefully good) memories of your home ec days.
It would be an easy and quick dessert. I think it would smell wonderful while eating dinner.
I really like how it’s a quick and easy recipe. I’m trying to remember the aroma as the pears baked. I’m sure that it had a nice smell, but I don’t think that it was very strong.
I’ve never baked them. Poached in a syrup is very tasty and a nice presentation (sort of fancy).
This was the first time that I ever baked pears. I was pleased with how it turned out – though it would look fancier it there had been more sauce.
I used to bake them, and then drizzle a tiny line of chocolate across. It gave them that extra touch without adding a lot of calories.
Perfect!
mmm. . . this sounds wonderful. The drizzle of chocolate would look lovely.
So simple, and so delicious!
Simple is sometimes best.
Oh bother! Here I just put the last of my pears into pear sauce! Looks yummy!
There’s always next year . .
True that!
These look great! Would covering the pan keep more of the moisture in to create more sauce?
Covering the dish might result in more sauce – not sure. I also thought that maybe adding a little water (and maybe a little more brown sugar) might result in additional sauce.
Good ideas!
This recipe looks like a good alternative to Poached Pears. It’s so easy too. You definitely found a keeper hidden in the pages of that old cookbook. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, Baked Pears are a nice change of pace from Poached Pears. It’s good to hear that you enjoyed this post.
I grew up eating baked pears, baked apples and baked bananas for dessert. Nice to see that it was typical many years ago.
My sense is that baked fruit desserts were more popular a hundred years ago than now. Not sure why. I like how they are easy to make, tasty, and fairly nutritious.
And economical. Also when I grew up cakes were just for holidays and birthdays and cookies just for school lunch. No other desserts.