Pear Pecan Bread

Yes, we’ve got a lot of pears these days, and since I’ve got lots of writing projects to juggle, I’m doing a lot of baking. This one’s simpler than the Pear-Rosemary bread, and possibly even more delicious. The recipe’s straight out of the no-longer brand new Joy of Cooking (not the super brand-new Joy of Cooking, which, so far, I don’t feel the need to buy, but that may change…)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9″ loaf pan.

Whisk together:
1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar (I used brown, which gives the bread a delicious carmel flavor)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt (forgot this)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg

Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 egg
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla
grated zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
1 1/2 c peeled, grated pears, with their juice

Add the flour mixture to the pear mixture and fold until the dry ingredients are almost all moistened.

Stir in:
1 c toasted pecans (I didn’t have pecans, so used my Dad’s hickory nuts. Yum!)

Fold until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes (put a piece of foil over the top of the bread if it’s getting too dark before the bread is cooked through). Cool on a rack 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely.

3 Comments

  1. Juliet says:

    I made this recipe last night. It is a simple and delicious alternative to banana bread. The texture is very soft and crumbly like cake, and the pears taste are both sweet an subtle. A square pan works if you don’t have a loaf pan.

  2. Anonymous says:

    I cut down the sugar to 3/4 cup and it still tasted sweet to me so I may cut it down a tad more. I chopped up the pears fine instead of grating and it was fine but you could see the pear pieces.

  3. Michelle says:

    This is a delicious recipe – thanks for posting it. I didn;t realize it wasn’t in the new Joy and I’ve recently given away my old copy!