Pear Quick Bread with Streusel Topping
What to do with those overripe pears sitting on your counter? Make an easy pear bread from them! Great for breakfast, for snacks, and it freezes well.
Servings 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 3 medium pears, 1 1/2 cups chopped
- 1 cup whole wheat flour, I use King Arthur Flour white whole wheat
- 1 cup white all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
Streusel Topping
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/4 tsp table salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.
- Peel pears. Chop the pears into 1/2 inch dice. Take 1/2 cup of the chopped pear and mash it well until it's basically pureed.
- In a large bowl, mix together wheat flour, white flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir in chopped pears and pear puree. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine with a large spatula until just mixed together.
- Add all streusel ingredients to a bowl and mix with your fingers until until well combined and there is no dry flour left.
- Using the spatula, scrape the pear batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the streusel over the top, patting it down to push it into the batter a little. This will help it adhere to the bread.
- Bake the bread for 45 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325F and bake for 15 minutes more. Allow the bread to cool for 1 hour on a rack. Then run a butter knife around the edges and carefully take the bread out of the loaf pan.
Notes
You can make the streusel first and just put it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
I used Green Anjou pears for this recipe. They are a mid-sized pear with a thin skin and sweet flesh.
To freeze, slice the bread and put it in a single layer on a tray lined with wax paper in the freezer. When frozen, transfer it to a resealable container.