Fresh Pineapple Bread Recipe

Looking for a bread that's not so sweet as to be cloying but not so bland as to be boring? A bread that could pair as well with a cup of morning coffee and fresh fruit as it does with a can of seltzer and some nuts as an afternoon snack? Or perhaps it would play well with a glass of sweet wine, a good stout, or a mug of tea for an after-dinner treat? Then look no farther than this recipe for fresh pineapple bread!

"This bread is kind of similar to a banana or zucchini bread, so it is a little sweet but not overly sweet," says chef and recipe developer Jessica Morone of Jess Loves Cooking. "I think of it as kind of like a breakfast bread. I'm not sure it could fully satisfy a craving for a sweet dessert, but you could definitely eat it for dessert if you want to, or just [as] a snack." Need to up the sweet factor to satisfy that inveterate sweet tooth? Well, that's what jam and jelly are for, after all. Or you could even use icing if you want to go wild when it comes to that sweet flavor experience.

Any way you enjoy eating this modestly sweet and majorly tasty bread, you'll positively love making it first. That's because the hands-on prep work takes well under 10 minutes and a few simple ingredients, many of which are pantry staples. In fact, once you have made this loaf a time or two, you'll very likely learn to get it prepped and in the oven in more like five minutes.

With the exception of the pineapple itself, chances are good that you already have everything you need to make this bread in your kitchen already. It calls for flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, brown sugar, sour cream, eggs, vanilla extract, and a 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple that you have drained. If you find you love the bread as much as you're sure to, you can start keeping canned pineapple on hand and always be ready to make it.

As for toppings or additions that you can bring to this bread experience, that's up to you. Morone notes that "there are a lot of things this bread could be paired with, I think jam or butter would be great, or with cinnamon butter would be amazing. But even just plain this bread is really delicious."

Pineapple flavor defines this delicious namesake bread, but what's to be made of the definition of this fruit's English name? After all, the tasty thing is definitely not an apple, nor does it grow on a pine tree. And then there's the name of the fruit in other languages, which complicates the English etymology even more. In French it's "ananas." In Portuguese it's "ananás." In Turkish? "Ananas." In Croatian, it's again "ananas." And on it goes in almost every tongue — except English.

So what gives? According to Merriam-Webster, the pineapple was named as such largely because medieval plant-namers and scientists tended to draw upon the word "apple" whenever they were describing a new-to-them fruit. And it kind of looked like a pinecone, too, with its spiky top and exterior that looked not unlike the scales of a pinecone. For a 14th century botanist, that was good enough to gain the funny-looking fruit the name of "pineapple".

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it's up to the proper temperature when it's time to cook the bread. Then coat a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan (that's 3 inches deep, too) with cooking spray and set it aside. If you need to use a wider, shallower pan, just reduce the baking time a bit and keep an eye on the bread while it's baking to make sure it doesn't burn.

Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then, in a separate large bowl, beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined. Then add the drained crushed pineapple to these wet ingredients and mix again briefly.

Now, gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, blending until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter, as that will encourage the overdevelopment of gluten in the flour and can produce an unpleasantly tough cake.

Once the dry and wet ingredients are combined, pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Not let it bake at 350 degrees for about one hour, until the bread is golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remember that, if you had to use a shallower pan, the bread will likely take less time to bake.

"This recipe is very simple, but if there is anything to watch out for I think it would be under or over baking it," says Morone. So, how can you be sure that the bread is ready to emerge from the oven? "You want to make sure that a toothpick or fork inserted in the center comes out clean with just a few crumbs on it, but not bake it so long that it burns" she explains. "55 to 60 minutes usually gets it perfect."

Once baked, allow the bread to cool completely, then slice and serve. If you have any pineapple bread left over, you should be set for the next few days. "It should be good for about four days if you leave it covered on your counter or about a week in the fridge," Morone says. You can also freeze the bread for up to four months, making this a potentially very useful make-ahead recipe if you're a fan of planning ahead of time.