Eats: Pear and Banana Bread

If there are two things that go well together is baking and fall. It’s time for an overload of sweets and everything yummy. So often we I go grocery shopping, I buy to much fruit and don’t get around to eating it all before it starts to go bad. I had some bananas that had hit the prefect “banana bread” point and we also some pears that weren’t being eaten. So I hit up the oh so trusty Pinterest to see what I could make. I discovered several versions of pear and banana bread. So I thought that this would be the perfect way to use these fruit, but with a little twist on the recipes that I found.

Start by combining all the dry ingredients together. Combine one and half cups of self rising flour, one half teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon cinnamon, and one teaspoon nutmeg together in a medium mixing bowl. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

Next up is the wet ingredients and I used my stand mixer. Combine one third cup of softened butter and two-thirds cup of brown sugar. Mix until combined, next add one egg at a time while the mixture in on low. Slowly add the mashed banana and chopped pear in. For the pear, I found it better if the pear was cut up as small as I could get it because I did not want chunks inside the loaf. However if you want those chunks, feel free to add them.

Once you have all the wet ingredients mixed throughly together add the dry ingredients in thirds. Make sure all the dry ingredients are mixed through before adding more. Add the bread mixture into a buttered or oil bread pan.

If you’d like you can also choose to add chopped nuts or chocolate chips. Always a favorite in banana bread

Because I had a few extra pears that were starting to turn brown, I wanted to add them into to a browned butter sauce onto of the banana bread. In a medium sauté pan over medium-low heat, I melted one third cup of butter till it starts to brown a bit. When you are browning the butter you want to always do this on a lower heat because you can burn the butter if you do it on a higher heat which results in a bitter taste. Once the butter is browned, add half a cup of brown sugar and two pears- cubed. Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Then pour the mixture on top of the bread mixture. Make sure the the cubed pears are evenly spread out because they will bake into the bread a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Pear and Banana Bread

1 1/2 cup self rising flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup pear, finely diced
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Browned Butter Topping

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 pears, cubed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Combine butter and brown sugar, mix until combined. Add one egg at a time, mixing in-between. Mix in banana and pear.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet in thirds. Place mixture into buttered bread pan.
5. In a sautee pan over medium low heat melt butter until browned. Add brown sugar and pears, cook for 10 minutes. Pour over bread.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 30 minutes.