Chai Spiced Pear Bread

One of my earliest memories of my grandma was her canned pears. She used to can them every year along with jams, tomatoes, and peaches. Out of all my cousins, I was the only one who liked the pears more than the peaches. She would always point this out, because apparently pears are a lot harder to can than peaches—something about how you have to peel the skins. Regardless, she still did several batches just for me.

To this day I still would rather eat a fresh peach over a canned one, and nice soft pears instead of fresh. I prefer mine gently poached in a syrupy bath, smoothly pureed into a sauce, or cooked into warm spiced loaves of quick bread. I guess some things never change.

This time of year, when the weather gets crisp, you won’t find me too far from a hot mug of tea. Sometimes it's nice to have a slightly sweet treat, full of all the wonderful seasonal fall flavors, and this one is gluten-free to boot.

Chai-Spiced Pear Bread

3 cups almond flour or almond meal
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons oil (I used coconut oil)
1 ripe but still firm pear, shredded

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.

Combine the almond flour, all spices, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the honey and oil. Stir in the shredded pears.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until everything is moistened. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Want more recipes? Try these cherry almond-meal muffins.