This Perfect Pear Strudel a special yet simple weekend breakfast, with a sweet vanilla glaze. 

Cooked pears wrapped in phyllo dough, with glaze, on rectangular white plate with "Perfect Pear Strudel" overlay at bottom.

“Made this today with a sheet of puff pastry I found in the freezer – adjusted everything down to the two pears I had and plumped the raisins in rum. The fruit smelled so good prepping and the finished strudel was divine.”

—Karin

Is Pear Strudel Breakfast or Dessert?

This is kind of conversation Jeff and I have before falling asleep on Saturday nights:

Lori: “I think I’m going to get up early tomorrow and make a pear strudel. We can eat it for breakfast.”

Jeff: “Strudel? For breakfast? Isn’t that a dessert?”

Lori: “Uhhhh…what about Toaster Strudel? Remember those?”

Jeff: “Well, those had frosting.”

Lori: “So, frosting makes it a breakfast item rather than dessert?”

Jeff: “Yes.”

Lori: “OK, I’ll make you a little bit of frosting…”

Mable countertop with white towel, bowl of cooked pears, bowl of melted butter, pastry brush, pairing knife, box of parchment baking sheets, and plastic-wrapped roll of phyllo dough.

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That’s how I found myself making a pear strudel, and a small bowl of glaze for Jeff, on a recent Sunday morning. Because frosting or glaze = breakfast, obviously. If you missed my post on how to work with phyllo dough, you’ll want to check that out first.

After that, it’s just a matter of cooking a simple mixture of D’Anjou pears (also what I use in Thanksgiving fruit salad and Thanksgiving rice) and raisins, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and then rolling it all up in a few layers of phyllo. Bake, slice, drizzle with glaze (so you can call it breakfast), and eat.

Pear Strudel on rectangular white plate being drizzled with white glaze.
Sliced pear strudel on rectangle white platter.

Perfect Pear Strudel

This Perfect Pear Strudel a special yet simple weekend breakfast, with a sweet vanilla glaze. 
4.3 from 15 ratings

Ingredients

For the Pear Strudel:

  • ¼ cup raisins
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
  • 3 large D'Anjou pears peeled, cored and diced
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 6 sheets phyllo dough

For the Glaze:

  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make Pear Strudel:

  • Place raisins in small bowl, cover with very warm tap water. Let stand 5 minutes to plump, then drain.
  • Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add pears, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and plumped raisins. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until pears are very tender and almost all liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally. Spread mixture on small rimmed baking pan or plate and place in refrigerator 15 minutes to cool (this step can be done up to 2 days in advance).
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in microwave. Place a stack of 3 phyllo sheets on parchment paper on work surface. Make a second stack of 3 phyllo sheets and place it so it overlaps the first stack by about an inch. Mound the cooled pear filling along one of the long sides of phyllo dough. Roll up like a jelly roll and transfer the parchment with strudel to rimmed baking pan.
  • Brush strudel with melted butter. Score the dough into 1-inch portions using a serrated knife, but do not cut completely through the strudel. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Make Glaze:

  • In small bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
  • Slice strudel and serve warm with glaze.
Calories: 457kcal, Carbohydrates: 85g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 151mg, Potassium: 331mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 53g, Vitamin A: 406IU, Vitamin C: 8mg, Calcium: 48mg, Iron: 2mg
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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