Pear Bread with Candied Ginger

Pear Bread with Candied Ginger is a delicious quick bread recipe for fall! The pears are roasted and then added to the bread, creating an amazing flavor that complements the candied ginger and buttery streusel.

I love a good quick bread. I’ve yet to find an amazing banana bread recipe that I love, but I keep making my Cinnamon Streusel Apple Bread over and over. It’s great for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

This Pear Bread with Candied Ginger is based on the apple bread recipe, but with a few tweaks. I obviously used pears instead of apples, and I roasted the pears first. I got the idea from a New York Times recipe and I’m hooked on the idea.

Roasting brings out the sweetness of fruits and veggies, and pears are no exception. This recipe calls for two pears that are almost-ripe. That ensures that the pears keep their shape when baked into the bread, and any lack of sweetness is made up for by roasting.

I started by chopping two D’Anjou pears into ½ inch pieces, and tossing them with melted butter and a pinch of sea salt.

After 10 minutes, the pears are slightly soft and beginning to caramelize. Also, the skin changes color from green to brown.

The rest of the recipe is standard for quick bread: butter, flour, eggs, sugar, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own by combining 1 teaspoon of vinegar (white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or even lemon juice) with ⅓ cup of milk.

I also added two tablespoons of chopped candied ginger to the batter to complement the pears. If you like ginger, try it out! It’s also delicious without it.

This pear bread is even more delicious with a buttery streusel. It crisps up in the oven and the toasted almonds are a great complement to the pears and ginger.

The bread is chock full of pears and it’s super moist. I love it with a cup of tea for an afternoon treat!

Pear Bread with Candied Ginger

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Super moist and chock full of pears, this pear quick bread is perfect for fall!

• Author: Kate Shungu
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 75
• Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Yield: 8–10 slices 1x
• Category: Brunch
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the pears:

• 2 almost-ripe pears, unpeeled, chopped into ½ inch pieces (I used D’Anjou)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• Pinch of sea salt

For the quick bread:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup buttermilk (see substitute in the notes below)
• 2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger (optional)

For the streusel:

• ¼ cup flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 
• 2 tablespoons cold butter
• ¼ cup slivered almonds

Instructions

For the pears:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss the pears with the melted butter and a pinch of sea salt. Spread the pears on a baking sheet and roast for 12–15 minutes, until the pears soften slightly. Let cool. 

For the bread:

1. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Grease a 9x5x3 inch baking pan with cooking spray or butter.
2. Place ½ cup softened butter in a large bowl. Mix on high with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar and continue beating until pale yellow and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat on low until just combined. Add half the milk and beat until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and remaining milk.
4. Stir in the roasted pears and candied ginger. 

For the streusel/baking instructions: 

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, a ginger. Dice the butter into small cubes, and add the cubes to the flour mixture. Use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour mixture, squishing the butter between your fingers. Stop when the butter reaches pea-size pieces.
2. Spread the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle with the streusel. Pat down lightly. 
3. Bake for 55–65 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Check the loaf around 40 minutes—if the top looks golden brown, loosely place a piece of aluminum foil on top for the rest of the baking time.
4. Remove from the oven and run a knife along the edges of the pan. Let cool at least 15 minutes before removing from the pan.

Notes

To make homemade buttermilk, combine 1 teaspoon white vinegar with ⅓ cup milk (I use 2% milk but skim or whole would be fine).

I used D’Anjou pears for this bread and I kept the skin on. Bosc pears would be good, too! Slightly under-ripe pears keep their shape best when baked into the bread. The roasting process will bring out the sweetness.

Keywords: quick bread, pears, baking