Chocolate Chunk Pear Bread with Caramel Glaze

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So lately I’ve had an over abundance of pears in my house. Not that that’s necessarily a problem, mind you, but I’ve been trying to think of different ways to use them up. That’s when I came across a recipe for pear bread. It was a good bread, moist and sweet, but my husband, Bill, said that he thought it was missing something. “I got it!” he said. “You need to add chocolate and throw on a caramel glaze.” Chocolate and caramel in a pear bread? Hmmm…maybe he was on to something. Well, what better way to find out than to make it, right? So I was on a mission to make this chocolate chunk pear bread with a caramel glaze.

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While I was prepping for this bread, I recalled an article I once read about a chocolate chef, or chocolatier, who mentioned how he usually preferred to use chopped chocolate chunks in his cookies and baked goods while using chocolate chips for his melting purposes. So I went out and bought some Ghirardelli milk chocolate bars. Dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate would totally work for this recipe, but since I was making this specifically for my husband and he loves milk chocolate, I went with that. Guittard is also a good quality chocolate brand to use.

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I chopped up the chocolate and threw it in with the pears. It was a fairly full batter, but it looked like it was gonna be tasty. I threw it in the oven and waited. The house smelled so good. I couldn’t wait to eat it. So, I started making the caramel glaze so it would have time to cool and thicken a bit while the bread cooled.

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Once I had the bread glazed, it didn’t take long for us to cut into it. Well, Bill was right, chocolate and caramel glaze definitely added something to the bread. Needless to say, it didn’t last long in this house which allowed Bill to gloat over his suggestion. I guess this one is a keeper. Try it out and see what you think.

CHOCOLATE CHUNK PEAR BREAD WITH CARAMEL GLAZE

Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1 3/4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup fresh pears, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup chopped chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5-inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, baking soda, and nutmeg and set aside.
  3. In a separate mixing bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat together the sugar, oil, butter, and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs one at a time beating well with each addition. The mixture will begin to thicken and be a light lemon color.
  4. Stir the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in the pears and chocolate chunks.
  5. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out loaf and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  6. Spoon caramel glaze over loaf, let set, and then serve.

Note: Recipe adapted from the Bakerette.

CARAMEL GLAZE

Ingredients

  • ¾ cups butter (1½ sticks)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. In a small pan, melt butter over low heat.
  2. Stir in brown sugar and milk.
  3. Bring to a boil over low heat, then reduce to a simmer, stirring constantly.
  4. Let boil for 10 minutes, continue stirring.
  5. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir. Let cool.
  6. Once caramel glaze has cooled a bit, pour over the top of bread.

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