Spiced Pear Phyllo Bundles

The in-laws dropped by for lunch yesterday and I threw together these Spiced Pear Phyllo Bundles as a quick dessert. I make these in several versions. The recipe works well for apples, peaches or plums as well. I've even made them with mango. These can even be frozen before baking and then thawed and baked as needed. Just leave the egg wash and sugar off when freezing them and do those steps when the pastries have thawed before baking.

Makes 8 pastries

16 sheets frozen phyllo pastry (aprox 12x18 inch sheets)
¾ cup melted butter
½ cup sugar + more for sprinkling on the phyllo sheets
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cardamom
4 large ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut in half
1 egg + 2 tbsp water (beaten together for eggwash)
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Mix together spices and ½ cup sugar and set aside.

Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with butter and sprinkle the entire surface with about 1 tsp sugar. Top with a second sheet of phyllo pastry. Brush half this sheet with butter and sprinkle with about ½ tsp sugar. Fold the sheet in half to make about a 9x12 inch rectangle which will now have 4 layers of phyllo pastry. Place a pear half in the center of the shorter side of the rectangle and spoon about 2 tsp of the sugar and spice mixture over the pear half. Fold the two longest sides of the pastry to meet at the center of the sheet covering the pear half. Roll up the pear in the phyllo, leaving the seam on the bottom of the pastry covered pear.

Repeat for the other pear halves.

Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg wash and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar if desired.

Place the pastries, seam side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is evenly golden brown.