Spiced pear bread combines toasted coconut, soft chunks of pear, and a swirl of fall spice. It bakes tall, slices clean, and keeps beautifully for days.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
This is a brief summary of the recipe. Jump to the recipe to get the full details.
Prep Time
25 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 35 minutes
Servings
12 slices
Difficulty
Easy
Calories *
323 kcal per serving
Technique
Mix batter, bake, glaze, and finish with cinnamon.
Flavor Profile
Spiced, tender bread with pear and coconut.
* Based on nutrition panel
This bread is unbelievably good. I didn’t ice it because I am trying to eat less sugar but it didn’t need it anyway, so a big win. This is a moist, subtly spiced loaf that I’m going to make again and again. Thank you! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Annella W
So… this is not what I intended to make.
You know how they say when life gives you persimmons, make chai-spiced coconut pear bread? Oh, they don’t? Well that’s what I heard the other day.
Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, I bought persimmons for the first time in my life. I don’t know why I’d never bought or tried persimmons before — they look so cute and delicious sitting there in the produce aisle, but my hands usually reach for the plums or the apricots or the apples because we’ve been friends for years and I know what they taste like and I like living in my regular fruit bubble.
ANYWAY, one day I decided to leave the bubble and I grabbed the last four persimmons left in their section, sitting snugly under the “Hachiya persimmons” sign (which, as I learned in my research, is the best type of persimmon used for baking, as opposed to the Fuyu), and paid a whopping $6 for them. But it was worth it, I said to myself, because I was going to use them in a quick bread: One with persimmons and ginger and bourbon (See? Worth it).
So one morning, I retrieved my beloved new persimmons from the fridge, flipped them over to remove their stickers and there it was, staring me in the face.
Fuyu.
I bought the FUYU instead of the HACHIYA. (Man, if I had a nickel for every time I said that…)
I harumphed about it. I bah humbugged about it for a bit. I contemplated going back to the grocery store and suing them for false advertising (or just politely asking for a refund, either/or). But instead I cooled off over a glass of milk (because I’m five) and an episode of “Downton Abbey” (because British accents somehow remind me to act like a lady) and then decided to make chai-spiced coconut pear bread. And I lived happily ever after.
So now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the deliciousness we’ve got going on here. There’s chai tea-infused milk in here. There are fresh chunks of Anjou pear (which are so in season right now and so unbelievably yummy). There’s a scattering of toasted coconut. There’s a vanilla-cinnamon glaze. There’s also an overwhelming chance that this bread was meant to be made after all, so I’d like to thank my Hachiya persimmons for turning out to be Fuyus so that I could experience this miracle of miracles in bread form. I’ll probably make my gingerbread loaf or this cardamom bun recipe next to keep my deep love of winter-y spiced breads going!
Of course, one of these days I’m going to buy the right kind of persimmons and make that other bread. Because, hello, bourbon. The end.
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If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Spiced Pear Bread
Ingredients
For the bread —
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ? teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup chai-infused milk, I steeped this tea in warm milk for a few minutes, then let the milk cool to room temperature; if you can’t find or don’t want to add the tea, just use regular milk
- 2 ripe Anjou pears, or Bosc pears, cored and cut into ½-inch chunks
For the glaze —
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
- ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spread coconut in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring every few minutes, until lightly toasted, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together coconut, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. In a separate large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, stirring until just combined. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, stirring until just combined and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. Fold in cubed pears.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and cool 30 minutes on a cooling rack.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla and milk until a thick glaze forms. Spoon and spread glaze evenly over bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
just found you on influence network and just wanted to say i love your beautiful food blog (and yes, you are ministering to people this way through recipes– I can see your heart through it.)
🙂 erika
Erika — You are too sweet. 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement!
m’lady, this bread sounds even better than the persimmon version. A happy accident!
a farmer in the dell — Thank ya, darling! 🙂
This looks amazing. Cannot wait to try it!
Carrian — Thanks, hope you like it!
You’re such a cutie! Even though this isn’t what you intended to make, I’m so glad you made it! I’ve never made pear bread and I have a total weakness for quickbreads. Slice me off a thick one and slather ‘er in butter, I could eat this loaf all day!
Julia — Thank you! I’m pretty glad I made it, too. 🙂
I don’t know much about persimmons except that while spending a month in Israel last year they ate them like apples. They would peel the skin and slice them in wedges and eat away. I must say I developed a fondness for them and now it is a special treat to have them as they are so expensive here. No, I don’t know what variety they were but they were firm and sweet and they bought them by the bagful. Yum! And your bread looks great by the way!
Abbe — You make me want to buy a whole bushel of persimmons and eat them all. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
Such a lovely flavor combination and what a way with words! I love bourbon also, so I am eagerly awaiting your next loaf recipe.
-Allison
Allison — Thank you! The bourbon loaf will be happening, rest assured. 🙂
Could your photos be any prettier? I just don’t think so. Love this bread so much Stephanie!
Claire — Oh, thank you! That made my day. 🙂
I’m very glad that your story has such a delicious ending. Lovely combination with the chai spices, coconut and pear.
Kathryn — Me too 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I loved this post! Both the tone of the writing and the end product (giiiiive me! my favourite cake [maybe ever!] is Joy the Baker’s spiced pear bundt cake with a walnut praline, followed rapidly by Shutterbean’s chai coffee cake. Seriously: if your cake can top these two cakes, I can move them down my list and free up spaces on the coveted ‘Top 5’ for other important things like Red Velvet and Coconut Cake.
Anyway, back to you: your photography is really beautiful. Clear and simplistic. And, like I said, I really do like the anecdotal tone of your writing :).
Rebecca — That is so incredibly sweet, thank you! Both of those cakes by Joy and Shutterbean sound AMAZING, by the way. I’m not sure I could beat them, even though I admit this loaf is pretty darn tasty! 🙂
This bread sounds insanely good, lady love! I could go for a slice right-about-now.
Ashley — Aw, thanks sweets! 🙂