Banana-Pear Bread

It's hump day and I don't even know where that name came from. But I can see what they were trying to get it at...maybe. Anyway, today's recipe is a spin-off from Eating Well's Banana Bread recipe. So essentially we have most likely went from Eating Well to Eating Overly-Well, if you know what I mean.

Here's out it all began. I had this one lingering overly ripened banana just wasting on the counter and then I found a beat up raggedy pear left for dead in the corner of the fridge. I've always wanted to attempt a banana bread but never found any motivation until I met this couple. I knew the recipe called for four bananas but hey, that's not what my kitchen afforded me so a pear had to do.

For the pear I poked a couple fork holes into it and put it in the microwave for about 40 seconds on high. Keep an eye on it. Once that pear was softened, I discarded the stem, core and seeds. I mashed my pear with a fork but next time I will probably pulse the pear into semi-chunks in a food processor because the skin took more time to break apart.

The ingredients for this recipe has been modified but the preparation is straight from Eating Well. Have fun!

Here's what you will need:

2/3 C packed brown sugar (make it 1 Cup if this doesn't sound too sweet for you)
1/3 C hot, strong brewed coffee
1 1/2 C of mashed banana & pear (will be a bit soupy)
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract (My favorite is Madagascar vanilla)
2 1/4 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
1/4 Teaspoon of baking soda (and a pinch more)
2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 Teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 Teaspoon of salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

• Dissolve brown sugar in coffee in a bowl. Stir in banana-pear mixture. Whisk together egg, egg white, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the banana-pear mixture. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Add to the banana-pear mixture and stir just until combined.

• Pour into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick (a steak knife for me) inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes (baked mine for about 40-42 minutes, you know your oven best). Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the loaf onto a rack and let cool completely. 

Guilty Pleasure tip: Heat slice in microwave for 15 sec, top with Cool Whip!