Saturday, May 3, 2008

Mini Pear Loaves


This recipe is originally for pear ginger "bread" (not sure why it's called bread though as it's really more muffin/loaf-y). Anyway I thought - pear and ginger? That sounds good. Well I was wrong! The recipe calls for 3 tbsp fresh ginger which is a lot of ginger, too much for me and I love ginger. But I think I prefer it in savoury things like beet and tofu salad. Or at least in the dried form for baked goods, though I've never tried crystallized ginger.


Anyway, the great thing about these little loaves is that they're so deliciously soft and the pear in them is just perfect and doesn't make them mushy, as I've found apples can in muffin recipes. I tried a pear, cardamom and pumpkin seed muffin version of this recipe and while I liked the sound of it, I didn't really like the cardamom in there. I plan to try out other variations on this recipe adding different spices, nuts and fruit (and of course I'd like to try out a version that involves chocolate!) I modified the recipe to be healthier, as with most other muffin recipes I make (unless I just want to go all out).

If this sounds good, you might like:
Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Almond Coconut Muffins
Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread

Mini Pear Loaves
adapted from The Garden of Vegan

Makes 8 mini loaves or 12 muffins.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup applesauce
1 banana, mashed
1 large pear, cored and cubed
1/2 cup nuts or seeds (pecans, pumpkin seeds, etc)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in sugar, apple juice, applesauce, banana, pear, and nuts/seeds. Stir together gently until "just mixed." Pour batter into a lightly oiled mini loaf pan or muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

28 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

those pear loaves look absolutely divine - yum!

Anonymous said...

These look delicious! And they're vegan too. =D

Anonymous said...

The recipe looks really good and simple. I would love to make these in muffin-form!

Silvia - Magnolia Wedding Planner said...

I agree with you that is a lot of ginger also for me :-) I usually only have some on my pasta so it would be too much!
Really delicious! thanks for sharing the recipe
Silvia

Emily said...

I think these sound really good. I bet I would like the pear-ginger combo. And they're low fat! Yea!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

this looks delicious.

Anna said...

Ooh, I love the idea of these - one to try! Especially with pear, mmm.

test it comm said...

Those pear loaves look really good!

Jerry said...

Drool! They look delicious! My vegan friend will love them!

Gigi said...

they look really good. i can totally see myself having this breakfast with a nice cup of coffee.

LisaRene said...

Ashley, I love that you share your disappointing recipes as well as your successes. Off on a tangent - someone needs to host a roundup of "recipe flops", wouldn't that be fun! Back to the subject - 3 T. fresh ginger is a TON, I can understand why it overwhelmed these little loafs. Now 3 T. of crystalized ginger would be very practical as crystalized ginger doesn't have the potency of fresh. Crystalized ginger is comparable to any dried fruit (cranberry, blueberry, apples, etc). Since you love ginger definitely give the crystalized a try!

Also, it was fun to visit your 1st post. Hea, you had 3 comments, I was talking to myself for months before I received a comment :)

Deborah said...

I actually almost made a pear ginger bread in my cookbook of the month last month. I had to just go look up the recipe, and it also has 3 tablespoons of ginger! I think this version looks just as lovely as the other one I was looking at, but this one sounds much healthier.

giz said...

I'm sorry the ginger didn't work - good to know though since I don't like it when the ginger overtakes the recipe. The pears give it an exotic kind of look. I would try it using powdered ginger and reduce the quantity just because it looks so amazing.

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Unknown said...

I haven't really used pears in baking. I love figs. I should try pears, though. This looks good!

Lisa Turner said...

This is my kind of dessert! Not too sweet and full of fruity goodness.

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

Wow! Those look really tasty ...

Anonymous said...

Oh this looks really good! While making my carrot-apple muffin last weekend, I contemplated on grating pears instead of apples, but decided on the latter since I'm a bigger fan of apples. I'll be sure to give this a try the next time, though. Do you think I can substitute the applesauce with additional apple juice? Or perhaps something else altogether?

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

I like fresh ginger in savory dishes. I don't think I ever baked anything with fresh ginger but I did with ground ginger which have a totally different taste.

Sarah said...

The pears look so pretty in the bread! I like ginger in select dishes, though I LOVE ginger snaps. I've been wanting to bake with crystallized ginger, maybe that would be good in these?

Christine said...

These look so delicious! I want to try them in the muffin form! I bet the loaves would be perfect crumbled in a trifle with pudding or whipped cream! You always amaze me!

Nina Timm said...

Hot out the oven with good cup of brewed coffee - a good start to any day....(or was this a teatime treat?)

winedeb said...

These are so cute! I have some little loaf pans that have been sitting in the closet for too long. May have to pull them out as these sound great! I like the pear idea as that is a fruit that seems to be put on the "back burner" too often and I bet they do hold up better than apples!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Ooh, that looks so wonderfully dense and moist. Just the way I like it; how did you know? ;)

Jannett said...

these look amazing... :)

Unknown said...

I made these with a few modifications. For 1/2 cup of the flour I used rolled oats. I didn't have apple juice so used soymilk. I also didn't have applesauce so used another banana. They turned out just scrumptuous. They were loved by those in the office, and I didn't tell them they were vegan until they'd raved. Low in carbs and fat -- yummy muffins.

priscilla joy said...

Ooh yum. I agree too much ginger is not good. But this loaf looks delicous!

Unknown said...

Ooh, I just made these, using pumpkin and apples instead and it was fantastic :)