Sweet And Easy Pear Bread Recipe

When it comes to baking with pears, you might be familiar with pear crisp, or perhaps a decadent pear upside-down cake. But pears might be at their best when baked into a simple loaf. Our sweet and easy pear bread, brought to us by recipe developer Catherine Brookes, is made with only a handful of simple pantry staples and a few ripe pears. This bread is a breeze to whip up and a joy to eat.

This quick bread, which has a moist, tender crumb, is delicately spiced with cinnamon, and filled with juicy morsels of fresh pear. It's a delicious flavor combination that results in a rather moreish loaf. Preparing this easy recipe is a case of simply mixing up the batter, folding through the diced pears for those pockets of fruity goodness, and popping everything in a loaf pan. But we're not quite done there — the final step before baking is to top the batter with slices of whole pear for extra sweetness and a beautiful presentation. 

After the bread bakes for an hour or so, you'll be greeted with a golden-brown loaf that smells like pure comfort. Let it cool, then slice and enjoy. This pear bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or anytime you need a pick-me-up.

To make this pear bread, you'll first need to make the simple batter. This consists of all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, vegetable oil, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Next, we peel and finely dice some pears and fold them through the mixture. Once transferred to the loaf pan, the final touch is to place some sliced pear cross sections (core and all) on top. Then, it's ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line an 8x4-inch loaf pan with a loaf pan liner.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugars, and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients. Whisk until just combined.

Core and finely dice two of the pears.

Add the diced pears to the mixing bowl and fold until just combined.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf pan.

Slice a few cross sections from the third pear, without coring, and place these on top of the mixture.

Bake for one hour, or until a skewer poked into the pear bread comes out clean.

Cool before slicing and serving.

Though fresh pears will lend plenty of sweet, juicy flavor to this delicious bake, canned pears are a convenient alternative and can be a lifesaver when fresh ripe pears are out of season or unavailable. Canned pears are typically already peeled, cored, and partially sliced, saving you time and effort in the already-easy preparation process. Plus, they have a consistent texture and still pack plenty of flavor and sweetness.

To use canned pears in your pear bread, pick a variety that has been canned in juice. Using pears in syrup might result in an overly sweet bread. Drain the pears well before dicing or slicing them so that you don't end up with a soggy loaf. Then, simply toss them into the mixture and place slices on top as you would with the fresh version. You might find that their texture is a little softer after baking than it would be with fresh pears, but the bread will be just as tasty.

One of the wonderful things about this recipe is how versatile it is, and you can experiment with adding different fruits to the batter. Though pears are a fantastic option in terms of both flavor and texture, there's plenty of room for creativity with other fruits. The basic mixture that's whipped up before you add the diced pears is a solid foundation for many varieties of fruit bread. Being quite thick, it's great for holding chunks of fruits or even whole berries, resulting in a loaf where everything is nicely distributed and the fruit doesn't sink to the bottom.

To mix things up, try substituting the pears with other fruits such as apples, peaches, raspberries, or blueberries. Each fruit will bring its own unique flavor profile and texture, adding a delicious twist to the classic moist, tender bread base. For firmer fruits like apples or peaches, you may want to peel them before adding them to the batter. Softer fruits like berries can be folded directly into the mixture. For a fresher flavor to accompany berries, you can add a little lemon zest or substitute it for the cinnamon.