Pear Bread (Sweet)

Fall and Winter are great times for pears, but I often find I have too many and inevitably some get too ripe to eat. I hate throwing them away so I like to put them into breads and cakes. I had an over abundance so I made them into a bread and it turned out delicious! I modified the recipe from another recipe of mine, so it is very similar with some changes to accommodate for the sweetness of the pears and the extra liquid. You could even put this into a square pan and serve with a light vanilla frosting for a cake, it's that good.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, organic
• 1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3⁄4 teaspoon ginger
• 1⁄4 teaspoon clove, ground
• 3⁄4 cup sugar, pure cane organic
• 1 1⁄2 cups pears, pureed (see recipe)
• 2  eggs
• 2  tablespoons canola oil
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄3 cup craisins
• 2  tablespoons candied ginger (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Slice the pears into quarters and using a food mill, puree the pears. Alternatively, core and peel the pears and mash them. No need to cook down like apples although you certainly could do an apple/pear bread and cook down the apples and add the pears at the end.
3. Grease one bread pan or three small ones.
4. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
5. In a small bowl whisk eggs until lightly beaten.
6. Add pears, oil, vanilla and mix together.
7. Add wet to dry and mix together without over-mixing. Fold in craisins.
8. Chop candied ginger, if using, small. Since some people don't like them I usually make small loaves and leave out of one or two loaves. My husband insists him and ginger are bitter enemies, so I make sure to mark the non-gingered loaf for his sake (or so I know which one to accidentally give him to laugh at him when he bites into a piece of ginger).
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Note: You could also add candied fruit, perhaps candied orange or other citrus peel would be nice, or nuts. This has a slightly sweet flavor without being too sweet. My husband gave it a thumbs up and I really liked it as well. It's not a heavy bread like pumpkin. I generally go heavier on the spices when I make it because I like spice!