Pear-nana Bread

The kids love banana bread, and I am quite fond of it myself, actually.  One afternoon, I noticed a few over-ripe bananas on the counter along with a pear that was a little past its prime.  I knew I should make some banana bread, but I didn't know what to do with the pear.  Just then, a light bulb came on in my head and I decided to dice up the pear and add it to the banana bread.

My first loaf was a little too dense, but it had really good flavor.  It reminded me of a pear bread pudding fresh from the oven.  The experiment was successful enough that I decided to make another loaf, adjusting a few things from what I learned with the first one.

My second loaf was a complete success.  The bread was light, moist, and sweet.  The pears added such a nice flavor, as well as a slight textural change.  The kids ate it up too, so it passed that test.  I was also glad to find another use for pears, since I don't really have a lot of recipes that call for them.  So I figured, if I couldn't find a recipe that calls for pears, I might as well come up with one of my own.  I will be making this bread again for sure.  I hope you do, too!

Pear-nana Bread

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 egg (lightly beaten)

3/4 cup very ripe bananas (mashed)

1/2 cup diced pear

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan.  In a mediumm bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. 

In a separate bowl, combine the egg, mashed banana, diced pear, sugar, oil, and lemon zest.  Stir until all ingredients are well combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry mix and add the banana mixture all at once.  Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.  Do not over mix.  The batter will be lumpy.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for about fifteen minutes before removing from the loaf pan.