Clever muffin

This pear bread begs to be underestimated. But I kid you not, I prefer this to any banana bread I have had recently. The butter, almond meal and cinnamon make this one of the tastiest breads I’ve had in ages.

I feel my pictures don’t really do this justice. I took them at 7am before I packaged a third to take to my work, a third for my boyfriend to take to his work and froze the last third. Because this recipe makes a lot of pear bread. In my rush I forgot to dust it with icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar for the American’s among you).

Hang on. I can fix this. Through the power of the interwebs and my amazing photoshop skills this has to be possible.

Ta da!

The moral of the story? Next time you go to make banana bread – don’t. Make pear bread. It’s better. And you can always fix it with the powers of the interwebs if you need to.

This received rave reviews at both mine and the boyfriend’s work. Even without the icing sugar on top.

Ingredients
3 cups wholemeal flour (or plain, if it’s what you’ve got)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ cup of almond meal (optional)
¾ cup butter, softened, or 3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups sugar
2 to 4 firm, ripe pears, depending on size (you’ll need 2 grated cups total, but I don’t recommend you grate them until you are about to use them, so they don’t brown)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

1. Heat your oven to 180°C (350°F ) and lightly grease a 10 inch/25 cm tube pan, spring form cake tin (that’s what I had) or two 9 by 5 inch (22 by 12 cm) loaf pans.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and almond meal in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well.
3. Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total; set them aside.
4. Add the butter or oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla all at once, then stir to the batter until it is evenly moistened.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 50 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up.
7. Serve it as is, sprinkle it with confectioners sugar or drizzle it with a simple glaze made from whisking 3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk, a dash of vanilla and 2 cups of icing sugar together.

Serves: Ah, how long it a piece of string. I cut it up into 24 pieces. 8 came to work with me, 8 to my boyfriend’s work, and 8 stayed at home to be frozen for later.

Healthy: If you cut it into 24 slices as I did then they are 185 calories a slice. The whole recipe is 4449 if you wish to do your own math.

Storage: Freezes well. Otherwise store in a airtight container for 2-3 days.

Source: Smitten kitten’s pear bread.