Asian Spiced Roasted Pears are warm, cozy, and sweetened with the aromatics of Chinese five spice powder, cinnamon, honey, and vanilla. This easy six ingredient Chinese dessert is baked to perfection and topped with a little coconut whipped cream or ice cream. It’s the ultimate lightly sweet treat at the end of a Chinese New Year feast or gathering.
This Asian pear recipe was originally published in 2013. We updated the photos, added step by steps and a video in January 2025.
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Recipe Perks
- While these Asian spiced pears bake in your oven, your whole house smells like a gorgeous bouquet of sweet goodness.
- Roasting the pears in half, allows some of the natural sweet juices and spiced honey mixture to pool in the hollow created by removing the core. The 5 spiced sauce is pure liquid gold – not to be missed!
- Can be made in advance for easy entertaining. Enjoy the spiced pears hot out of the oven or at room temperature. We do not suggest serving this pear dessert chilled because cold foods are not good for your spleen qi.
- Bakes in the oven to offer more room on the stovetop for stir frying or steaming.
- Guilt-free fruit dessert! Lightly sweet, gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.
- Perfect fall dessert. Delicious served on top of coconut rice pudding with condensed milk.
Ingredients
Pears – The beauty of this recipe is you can use any type of pear you desire. We used a red Anjou pear but also delicious with bosc, Bartlett, Asian pear and more. However, the ripeness and time to cook will differ depending on the type of pear used.
Lemon – prevents oxidation (browning of the pears) and gives the Asian spiced roasted pears a nice balance in both sweet and tart flavor.
Chinese Five Spice Powder – is a classic spice mixture including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel, and Sichuan pepper. You are probably wondering, what does 5 spice powder taste like? The spice is warming with notes of licorice and a little tongue numbing sensation from the Sichuan pepper at the end. It’s a must have ingredient for any Chinese kitchen so you can make recipes like General Tso’s chicken wings and Tofu Vegetable Pancakes.
Cinnamon – extra cinnamon is always a good thing. Have you ever noticed that if something is sprinkled with cinnamon- your brain thinks you are eating something sweet. The bonus is that you do not need to add extra sugar or sweeteners to achieve the sweet flavor. In addition, cinnamon has antibacterial properties, according to a study in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science. It’s delicious way to ward of the cold and flu season.
Butter – or coconut oil to keep it dairy free and vegan. It adds a little flavor and prevents the spiced pears from sticking to the pan while baking.
Vanilla extract – balances out the rich warm flavors of Asian spiced pears.
How to Roast Pears?
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F (190°C)
- Grease 9 x 13 baking pan
- Add butter or coconut oil, cinnamon, 5 spice powder and honey in a bowl. Microwave for approximately 30 seconds or until the butter is melted and the honey is runny. Add vanilla and stir well.
- Prepare pears by slicing in half and removing the core.
- Drizzle pears with lemon juice to prevent oxidation.
- Place pears in baking pan and drizzle with five spiced butter honey mixture.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until fork tender.
Recipe Tips
- Choose pears that are still firm but have a slight give when pressed. If they are over-ripe, they will fall apart in the oven. On the other hand, if they are not ripe enough, they will not be sweet.
- Keep the stem on as it makes for a super cute presentation.
- Save Time: Keep the skin on to provide structure for the pears while they bake.
- Drizzle on the lemon juice as soon as you cut and core the pears to prevent oxidation.
- If you don’t have an oven, try our stove top Chinese pear dessert soup for a quick and easy guilt-free dessert.
Whole Star Anise and Cinnamon Twills
If you have a fully stocked Asian Pantry, you may wish to use whole star anise ("Bat gok" in Cantonese and “Ba jiao" in Mandarin) and cinnamon twills instead of Chinese 5 spice powder for this pear dessert recipe.
- In a small saucepan, add the butter, 5-star anise and 3 cinnamon twills and steep for approximately 10 minutes over low heat.
- Add the honey.
- Once the spices start to bloom, turn off the heat add the vanilla.
- Remove the whole star anise and cinnamon twill spices.
- Now you spiced honey “brown butter” to pour over the prepped pears before baking. Yum!
If you purchase delicious star anise, be sure to try our star anise braised bamboo shoots and braised orange anise lotus root recipes.
How to Core a Pear without a Melon Baller?
Did you know that you can use an ice cream scooper to core a perfectly ripe pear? Hey, either did we! In the middle of creating our Asian spiced roasted pear video, we realized we did not have a melon baller. Ayahh!
We scoured the kitchen looking for something firm to core the pears with easily. Some other ideas include using a metal teaspoon/tablespoon, regular spoon, or knife. Now you can add ice cream scooper to the list of everyday items to core the pears if you do not have a melon baller. So, there you have it!
Vegan Options
To keep this baked Asian pear recipe vegan, use coconut oil or vegan butter instead butter. Swap the honey with maple syrup or your favorite sweetener.
Storage and Reheating
Asian spiced roasted pears can be kept in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
Oven Method: 350°F (176°C) for about 10 minutes or until toasty warm.
Microwave Method: On high heat, microwave at 30-second intervals until toasty warm.
More Asian Desserts
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Asian Spiced Roasted Pears
Equipment
- 9 x 13 baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 1.5 teaspoons five spice powder dried ground (Chinese 5 spice)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon dried ground
- 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup to keep vegan
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice or juice of 1 whole lemon
- 4 whole pears We used red Anjou but also delicious with bosc, Bartlett, Asian pear and more. Choose pears that are medium ripe that just start to give when pressed.
- Homemade Coconut Whipping Cream - optional garnish
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F (190°C)
- Grease 9 x 13 inch baking pan with butter or coconut oil.
Five Spice, Cinnamon and Honey Sauce
- In a microwave safe dish, add butter or coconut oil, cinnamon, five spice powder and honey in a bowl. Microwave for approximately 30 seconds or until the butter is melted and the honey is runny. Then, add vanilla and stir well.
Prepare Pears
- Wash pears and dry. Cut in half but leave on the stem for a cute presentation. Core the pears and scoop out seeds.
- Immediately squeeze the lemon juice over the pears to prevent browning (oxidizing).
- Place pears in baking pan and drizzle with mixed Chinese five spice, cinnamon and honey sauce.
- Bake Asian spiced pears in the oven uncovered for about 30 - 40 minutes or until fork tender and are slightly caramelized.
- Serve the pear dessert with a dollop of whipped coconut whipping cream, ice cream or even yogurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Enjoy warm from the oven or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- Choose pears that are still firm but have a slight give when pressed. If they are over-ripe, they will fall apart in the oven. On the other hand, if they are not ripe enough, they will not be sweet.
- Keep the stem on as it makes for a super cute presentation.
- Save Time: Keep the skin on to provide structure for the pears while they bake.
- Drizzle on the lemon juice as soon as you cut and core the pears to prevent oxidation.
- Top with a little Homemade Coconut Whipped Topping for the ultimate treat.
Heidi says
A little sweet and a little heat...so perfect to serve as an after dinner treat. I especially appreciated your tip for when to drizzle on the lemon juice. This is such a helpful tip for preserving the pears and making them look their very best!
HWC Magazine says
Delighted you enjoyed our recipe for Asian spiced pears. Getting the lemon on the pears straight away is key to keeping them fresh.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I love pears and your five spiced ones sound perfect. Don't know why more people don't use pears in cooking.
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Karen. Pears are under-represented in daily baking so we are on a mission to change that. After all pears are in season right now.
Eha Carr says
Sugar! In really and truly thought I had commented on every dish here . . . just discovered I had left 'the sweet part' out, even tho' it is quite 'acceptably' not too sweet in my book! Actually, love pears as a dessert and always but always have star anise and cinnamon quills in the house:) ! But must be reading incorrectly - why talk of melon ballers et al re coring pears? Don't you have an apple/pear corer? Kinda hollow metal tube about 10cms long, with a handle? Has a habit of taking too much 'core' out but so easy? Huh??? . . .
Hannah says
These sound so dreamy! I love five-spice powder but don't use it nearly enough. I might try this idea with apples, since I just bought a whole bunch of honeycrisps, and cravings don't wait!
Michelle says
So much warm delicious flavor infused into these perfectly roasted pears! Would be so delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Barb says
Wow. So easy and so yummy. Gonna make these this week.
Olivia says
Hello! I'm making these for some very health conscious guests tonight. I couldn't find the cinnamon sticks or the star anise at my local grocery, so I used the ground versions you recommended. Well, when I was waiting for the sauce to become "aromatic and bubbly" it suddenly congealed! I now have a brown glob of spices. I know cinnamon can do this because I've seen it happen in my coffee. I'm guessing the powdered versions of these spices are not good for this type of recipe.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Dear Olivia, I am very sorry to hear this happened. May I ask what brand of star anise mix did you use? Some brands have fillers and this may have been your issue. If you have guest ready to arrive now...Re melt the butter and then immediately take off the stove and just add your ground cinnamon and anise and stir and quickly drizzle on top of your apples and pears and bake. Take Care
Olivia says
Yes I ended up melting the liquid ingredients together and adding the spice after it cooled a little. Yay! Guests won't be here for a few hours so I have plenty of time to play with my failed recipe/science experiment. Thanks for your reply! Still looking forward to these.
Olivia says
Yes I ended up melting the liquid ingredients together and adding the spice after it cooled a little. Yay! Guests won't be here for a few hours so I have plenty of time to play with my failed recipe/science experiment. Thanks for your reply! Hope this helps other readers. Still looking forward to these.
Linda says
Great dessert with fresh pears. I bet it is awesome with the added flavors.
NancyC says
I love pears–this sounds like a great way to have them!
Denise Browning@From Brazil To You says
Bam: This is a simple yet gorgeous dish! I love how spiced these pears are...I just can imagine how aromatic was your kitchen when they were being cooked.
Healthy World Cuisine says
Hello Denise, thanks for stopping by and loved your little honey cakes on Nazeen's website. This is one simple but elegant dessert that always has my guests happy as the smell from the kitchen is amazing.