Spiced Pear Bread

5 from 1 vote

Spiced pear bread combines toasted coconut, soft chunks of pear, and a swirl of fall spice. It bakes tall and keeps beautifully for days.

Prep Time25

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 35

Course: Bread, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chai spice mix, quick bread

Servings: slices

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

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.

Yields: 1 9-by-5-inch loaf

Adapted from Zoe Bakes