(Amazing) Gluten-Free Almond-Pear Bread

On a recent trip to Costco, I purchased a large box of beautiful pears after my two-year old begged me to buy them.  They ripened quickly at home and guess who decided he doesn’t like pears!

Note to self: Do not make purchasing decisions based on the whim of a two-year old.

After giving away several beautiful pears to the neighborhood kiddos, I still had more than I could eat by myself.

I absolutely hate letting food go to waste, so I decided to try making pear bread.

I’d never had it, and had never made it, but figured it just had to be good, so why not?

I searched on-line and found a recipe that looked fairly simple and could easily be modified to be gluten-free. Plus, I already had all of the ingredients on hand.

Hubsters scarfed it down and said that he would’ve never known it was gluten-free if I hadn’t told him.

The bread smells amazing in the oven. It turns out just slightly crispy on the outside and deliciously moist on the inside. I see all-occasion gifts of fresh-baked pear bread in my near future….

ALMOND PEAR BREAD RECIPE (GLUTEN-FREE)

I made a couple of modifications by using sliced almonds instead of chopped walnuts, canola oil instead of vegetable oil, and gluten-free flour. In my second batch, I added some dried cranberries, maybe 1/2 cup per loaf.

Below I’m listing the recipe as I followed it. You can find the original recipe over at Taste of Home.

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar (I used Cane Sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup canola oil (could substitute safflower oil instead)

3 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (I used Namaste brand from Costco)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

4 cups peeled and chopped pears (~4 pears)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Pat of softened butter to “grease” the loaf pan(s)

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla and mix well. I simply used a fork, so no need to use an electric mixer.

In a small mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).

Slowly transfer contents of the small bowl into the mixture in the large bowl, gently stirring and not over-mixing.

The batter will become fairly thick, like this:

Rinse out the small bowl you used for the dry ingredients and use it to toss the pears with the lemon juice (the citric acid in the lemon juice helps to keep the pears from turning brown and mushy).

Add the pear mixture, sliced almonds, and optional cranberries to the batter.  It will be thick, but just be patient and fold in the ingredients without overworking the mix.

This recipe makes enough for two 9×5 loaves. I only have one loaf pan (it’s glass), so I refrigerated the remainder overnight and made my second loaf the next morning.

Using wax paper, “grease” your baking pan with the softened butter. You can dust it with a little flour if you’d like to keep the loaf from sticking to the pan.

Bake in a 350F oven for ~60 mins. I found that the center was still a little doughy, so I baked it for another 15 mins, but with a foil tent on top to prevent the top from burning. This tip seemed to do the trick, and a toothpick inserted in the center came out perfectly clean.

Cool for ~10 mins and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Slice up and serve anyway you’d like!

Looking for other ideas of what to do with fruit before it spoils? See my tips here.

Tags: almond bread, Around My Home, gluten-free bread, Melanie Bolke, pear bread