Dried pears may not be everyone’s go-to dried fruit snack.
You are more likely to find dried pears used in festive treats than in a school kid’s packed lunch. But dried pears are far too often overlooked and are underappreciated.
Dried pears are often used in the same instances as fresh pears. For example, they can be paired with various kinds of cheese and presented on a cheese board or can be added to fruit cakes for that extra depth of flavour.
Compared to other dried fruit, dried pears are more expensive and harder to find outside of high end supermarkets or health food stores. But what other dried fruits can be used in place of dried pears?
Our 3 Substitutes for Dried Pears
Dried pears are mostly used for their texture rather than their flavour, though both factors should be considered when you are trying to find a substitute for dried pears.
Like most other dried fruit, the natural sweetness in pears becomes even sweeter when the pears are dried. Of course, the slight tanginess that sets pears apart from other fruit is also highlighted when the pears are dried, but they are mainly sweet.
The creamy crispness of the pears changes completely when they are dried, making for a crisp but chewy snack.
Here are our top 3 substitutes for dried pears:
1) Dried Apricots
Admittedly, you will not get the same visual effect when you use dried apricots in place of dried pears because of the rich vibrate orange of the apricots. However, they are still the best substitute you can use for dried pears.
When ripe, apricots are full of fibre and are already very chewy rather than crisp like fresh pears. This chewiness becomes even more so when the apricots are dried. When attempting to replace dried pears, this texture is perfect.
In terms of flavour, dried apricots are sweet through and through. They do have a slight citrusy tang that falls just left to that of dried pears, but the tang is mostly overpowered by the sweetness.
Know Your Apricot to Pear Ratio
Every piece of dried apricot is one half of a whole apricot which is significantly more than is used for dried pear pieces. You will only need half as many dried apricots to replace dried pears.
2) Dried Cherries
If you like cherries while they are fresh and ripe then you are sure to love dried cherries.
Compared to dried pears, dried cherries are predominantly tart, rather than tangy – which is true when the fruits are fresh too.
The natural sweetness of cherries does translate into the equal sweetness of dried cherries. The tartness will still affect your dish. This could either change your dish completely or work in your favour.
That being said, there are countless varieties of cherries, so you will not always know exactly how the dried cherries you buy will affect your dish. Make sure to try the, first before you add them to your recipe to ensure that the cherries are not overly tart or sour.
Remove the Tartness
Just like with fresh cherries, you can use some salt or lemon juice to balance out the tartness of dried cherries. Avoid using more sugar as this could make the cherries too sweet.
3) Dried Peaches
Like dried pears, dried peaches may not be the first dried fruit that you think of when you want a sweet snack. But they are certainly sweet enough and delicious enough to be enjoyed on their own or in the same kind of baked goods as dried pears.
Peaches are already notoriously sweet and are full of fibre, similar to apricots. This fibre serves the peaches well when they are dried, as they develop a thick chewiness.
Dried peaches do lack that slight crisp that makes dried pears so unique, though the final flavour and texture of the dried fruit is enough to make up for that flaw.
Avoid Sweetened Dried Peaches
Because dried peaches are already sweeter than dried pear, you should only use dried peaches that have no added sugar or sweetener. Otherwise, your bake will be too sweet to stomach.
Other Substitutes for Dried Pears
Some of the dried fruit substitutes listed above can be pretty expensive as the fruit is harder to find in the first place. Here are a few more substitutes that will be more affordable when you need to replace dried pears:
- Dried Sweet Cherries – Just like regular cherries, sweet cherries are noticeably tart but are a lot sweeter, which becomes even more true when the cherries are dried. They may be too sweet to replace dried pears in some recipes, but so long as you make reduce the sugar in your recipe then the additional sweetness should not be an issue.
- Dried Mango – Out of all the dried fruit, it is dried mango that has become one of the most popular in recent years. Dried mango is one of the chewier dried fruits you can get because of how fibrous fresh mango is. You may find dried mango to be too tough for your preferences, but if you don’t mind the extra jaw workout then dried mango can replace dried pears.
Summary
Though you would expect dried apples to be the best substitute for dried pears, apples are only good for substituting fresh pears. When the pears are dried, dried fruit that becomes chewier rather than crispier makes the best replacements.
Dried apricots and dried cherries are good dried pear substitutes, providing both the same flavour and the same texture.