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
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.
