Perfect Pear Recipes

This creamy, whole-grain salad earned raves in our test kitchen. It's hardy enough to be a meatless main, or enjoy it as a festive side dish or cold-weather potluck star.

The combination of spiced, buttery pears; tart creme fraiche; and baked pancake is sublime, and so festive. For maximum puff, let the eggs and milk sit out for 30 minutes to take the chill off before making the batter.

Related: Our Best Brunch Recipes

Just seven ingredients go into this upside-down French tart. And one of them is très-easy purchased puff pastry. (Choose an all-butter pastry, such as Dufour or the Trader Joe's house brand, for the best flavor.)

Oats, walnuts and nuggets of chopped pear give this loaf a toothsome heartiness, while buttermilk keeps it moist and tender.

Related: 20 Sweet Quick Bread Loaves

Roast pears in the evening and chill overnight. All you'll have to do in the morning is top the tender fruit with a healthy Greek yogurt-based cream and granola.

Related: Try Our Fruit and Nut Granola

Crispy bacon, extra-creamy cheese sauce, pears sauteed in brown sugar and butter. It took our test kitchen three tries to get all the pieces right for this fall comfort food. Oh man, was it worth it.

You can't mistake the fruit in this cardamom-spiced beauty. Pear nectar and dried pears complement thick slices of fresh, juicy Bosc pears.

Related: Make Your Best Pie Ever

Pie bars are a little like those frozen toaster strudels... if toaster strudels were made with fresh fruit and a surprising spice by a creative at-home pastry chef (that's you!).

Related: Our Best Bar Cookies

You can almost remember a misty-morning trip to the orchards and bogs when you taste this riff on a Midwest favorite. A pumpkin-cornmeal biscuit crowns the sweet-tangy fruit duo.

Related: Cobbler and Crisp Recipes

Saffron is expensive, but just a pinch injects an earthy, honeyed quality to the pastry that brings out flavors in the pear.

A colorful mixture of sweet potatoes, red onion and pears blends with sage and sweet honey in this easy roasted side.

Related: Best Roasted Vegetable Recipes

Cutting pears into a fan shape takes an autumn-spiced tart's look from homey to holy moly.

You can serve this hearty, fruit-studded dressing with roasted or grilled pork, poultry or ham. The recipe comes from the historical Story Inn in Nashville, Indiana.

Related: Best Stuffing Recipes Ideas

This grand finale of a dessert features maple-burnished pears, drifts of lemony whipped cream and a sprinkling of candied pine nuts. It's all about contrasts—warm and cool, creamy and crunchy, sweet and tart. And best of all, all three components can be made ahead of time.

Under those gorgeous slabs of buttery fruit, this chocolatey cardamom-laced afternoon tea cake holds a buried treasure of juicy pear bits. (Word to the wise: Our testers recommend keeping the photo of the cake handy when you're slicing the pears.)

Related: Upside-Down Cake Recipes You'll Flip Over

This rich, chocolate-y pie's flavor really depends on ripe, flavorful pears. (In other words, if they're still rock-hard, don't bother.) For a topping idea, try making homemade whipped cream with a dollop of sour cream whipped in; the slight acidity nicely cuts through the pie's chocolatey richness.

Juicy pears cook in a just-sweet-enough sauce of chocolate, coconut milk and coffee.