Pear Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

No matter how many cookie recipes you have under your belt, there's always room for a new one. Experimenting with add-ins and techniques keeps the variety wide, providing tasty options for all preferences. Tasting Table recipe developer Jessica Morone shares these pear oatmeal cookies that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. If you like including fruits in your desserts, then this variation is a must-try. Morone says, "Pears are one of my favorite fruits, but they don't get used that often in baked goods."

Aside from pears, Morone adds classic goodies like old-fashioned oats and puts her own spin on the recipe with white chocolate chips. "I love these cookies because they combine the flavor of pears with the deliciousness of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie," she remarks. Indeed, if you're uncertain about whether you should whip up a traditional oatmeal cookie or try something new, this recipe is a great choice. Plus, with fruit and oats in the batter, you could also have these for breakfast!

For this pear oatmeal cookie recipe, you'll need all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, softened butter, packed brown sugar, granulated sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, shredded pear, old-fashioned oats, and white chocolate chips.

Morone offers a few substitutions depending on what you have on hand: "You can use quick oats, but it will change the texture of the cookie. For a great, chewy texture, you want to use old-fashioned oats," she says. As for the sweet touch, she notes, "You can swap out the white chocolate chips for any other kind of chocolate chip (milk, semi-sweet, dark) that you prefer."

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy.

Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the wet ingredients and beat until incorporated.

Beat in the shredded pear until combined.

Fold in the old-fashioned oats and chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15–18 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown.

Let the cookies cool, then enjoy.

As much as you'll want to scarf these all down at once, moderation is a valuable quality. Plus, you'll get to savor the goodness that much longer. To store them at optimal freshness, Morone says, "You can keep these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for about 4 days." If your room temperature is higher than average, you'll want to keep an eye on the cookies since they contain more moisture due to the fresh fruit.

Alternatively, if you don't think you'll get through them all at once or prefer to munch on them over a longer period, that's fine, too. "You can also freeze them for up to 3 months," Morone says. Again, make sure they are in an airtight container to reduce the chance of freezer burn. Once you're ready to eat them, just let them thaw at room temperature or defrost them in the microwave.

Pears don't feature in quite as many recipes as apples or berries, but they're a great option to add fruitiness. When choosing which variety to use, Morone says, "Bartlett, Bosc, and Anjou pears are all good to bake with, and they're all readily available at grocery stores year round." 

Whereas pies and crumbles often call for diced or sliced fruit, Morone opts to grate it. "I used shredded pears in these because shredding them evenly distributes the pear throughout the batter — you definitely get pear flavors in every bite." That's definitely a bonus for pear lovers, and if you want to amplify it even further, she suggests, "You could also put in some chopped-up dried pear for extra pear flavor in these."

Although you might be tempted to skip the 1-hour chill time in the fridge, Morone recommends against it. "The pears add a lot of moisture to the dough, so if you bake the cookies right away, they're more likely to go completely flat while baking. If you refrigerate the dough, it is more likely to give you the right cookie shape once it is baked." That said, if you want to speed up the process she says, "You could also freeze the dough for about half of the time instead of refrigerating."