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Fresh Pear Bread Recipe With Cinnamon

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: May 27, 2022 • 2 min read

Pear bread is a simple quick bread made with fresh pears. You can top pear bread with a fan of thinly sliced pears for a visually stunning breakfast, brunch, or afternoon treat.

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What Is Pear Bread?

Pear bread is a quick bread made from fresh pears, flour, sugar, eggs, and a liquid, like buttermilk. Quick breads, including zucchini bread or banana bread, are made with leavening agents rather than yeast, and pear bread is no exception—the addition of buttermilk helps activate the baking soda and guarantees a tender, moist crumb.

4 Tips for Making Pear Bread

When making pear bread recipes, consider the following tips:

  1. 1. Use fresh pears. For delicious pear bread, use ripe pears that are still firm rather than canned pears.
  2. 2. Make a streusel. For a fun twist, swap the sliced pears on top with a crumble of streusel topping.
  3. 3. Add nuts to the batter. Mix in chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter to add texture.
  4. 4. Experiment with toppings. Serve pear bread at breakfast with a swipe of cream cheese and sliced pecans, or drizzle it in icing and serve it for dessert.

What Are the Best Pears for Bread?

There are many varieties of pears, but try one of these for the best results:

  1. 1. Anjou: You can find this mild, common variety listed as both “red Anjou” or “green Anjou,” but there’s no marked difference in taste between them. Red Anjou pears have a burnished rusty color and tend to be slightly more elongated than the green variety.
  2. 2. Bartlett: Also known as “Williams Pears,” super soft Bartlett pears are high on the juicy side of the scale. They’re found as both “red Bartlett” and “green Bartlett,” but both colors are packed with pear flavor.
  3. 3. Bosc: Bosc pears have a matte, almost mottled look to their skin, with rougher patches of light brown overlaying the green skin beneath. They’re highly aromatic and hold their shape well when sliced into dishes like a radicchio salad or baked into a pear tart or bread.

Spiced Pear Bread Recipe

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makes

1 loaf

prep time

15 min

total time

1 hr 15 min

cook time

1 hr

Ingredients

  1. 1

    Peel 2 of the pears, remove the core, and cut into ¾-inch pieces. Core the remaining pear and thinly slice half of the pear lengthwise. (Save remaining pear halve for your own use.)

  2. 2

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing plenty of overhang on either side.

  3. 3

    Combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.

  4. 4

    In a mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, egg, vanilla extract, diced pears, walnuts (if using), and oil. Whisk to incorporate.

  5. 5

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and fold with a spatula, mixing just until the dry streaks disappear. Stir in the nuts.

  6. 6

    Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.

  7. 7

    Fan out the sliced pears and place on top of the bread, pressed gently into the top of the batter.

  8. 8

    Bake the bread until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50–60 minutes.

  9. 9

    Remove the loaf from the oven, and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

  10. 10

    Place the loaf on a wire rack and cool completely.

  11. 11

    Store leftover pear bread wrapped tightly in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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