Do you have recipes on rotate?
Like a record baby, I spin round and round.
For me to come back for more, a recipe has to be ‘eat my heart out’ phenomenal.
This Snickerdoodle Apple Bread had Dave and me sitting crumb faced and awestruck. With a crunchy top and cake-y inside, we shared with the world!
We baked this bread for every.single.party/get together/work co-mingle/dinner possible.
And the best worst, we “accidentally” undercooked the bread a couple times, “Well shoot. We can’t show pony this baby around” So… we two forked the whole dang pan.
A recent conundrum. Dave’s annual work beach party. What to bring? The loaf! But no! We brought it to the Christmas party, the bbq, Sandy’s housewarming…
The time had come. We needed to go our own way, but was it possible to take the Cookies and Cups magic and create a spark of our own? I pushed the nerves and with pen to paper, channeled one of our favorite pies.
May I introduce you to:
Pear Almond Bread with Coconut and Walnuts
Whole wheat and all purpose flour
Spices (I live in fall year long)
Sugar
Pears
Coconut
Pecans, walnuts, any nut, or not at all
I forgot this time, but dusting the pears in flour prevents them from sinking.
Genius, the tips we learn through the years.
If you too forget, the dessert is most forgiving in taste and texture.
Come and get your love!
Pear Almond Bread with Coconut and Walnuts
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar ¾ cup if using nuts and coconut
- 2 eggs, large room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon almond extract
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large pear, chopped and dusted with flour
- ⅓ - ½ cup unsweetened flaked coconut (optional)
- ⅓ cup pecans or walnuts, coarse chopped (optional)
Topping
- 1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar or raw/granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar or raw/granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground clove
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk together flour(s), baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
- Mix topping ingredients: sugar(s) and spices. Set aside.
- Add butter and both sugars to a medium-sized bowl. With a hand or stand mixer, beat on medium for about two minutes, while making sure to scrape the sides down. Turn the mixer to low, add one egg at a time and almond extract then beat again until just incorporated but smooth.
- With your mixer still on low, alternate adding flour and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just incorporated. Add lightly flour dusted pears, coconut, and nuts then stir until just combined.
- Taste the batter. Is it to your liking? If not, add more sugar or spice, then pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle sugar/spice, then on a folded dishtowel, tap the loaf pan down a couple times to distribute the batter evenly.
- Bake on the center rack:High altitude 40 - 50 minutesSea level 45 - 55 minutesIf adding nuts/coconut cook on the longer side, possibly adding five extra minutes.Begin checking five minutes prior to the earliest finish time. Bake until bread's just set and toothpick comes out with very few crumbs or clean. It's better for the bread to be underdone and able to continue baking on the counter, then overdone.
- Remove pan from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Warm or cool, this bread's to die for.
Notes
- All purpose flour can be used and this bread will come out great. I haven't tried, but my understanding is all whole wheat pastry flour won't work.
- We like desserts with "just enough" sugar, so include 1 cup. We tested on many who love their sweets; the consensus, the bread was perfectly sweet. It's your bread though, so taste the batter and add if necessary.
- To prevent the pears from sinking, dust with flour before adding to the batter.
- I'm a sucker for a good top, so add turbinado sugar for texture. Mixing with sugar and spice makes for the perfect crunch!
- For crunchy on the out and soft on the in, leave bread on a rack loose tented with foil. For soft inside and out, store airtight.
I would consider making this bread.
Love the tip for the pears. ❤️
Thank you mom.
To my first and biggest fan – your (especially your ;D consideration* is tremendous!)
Love you!