Banana and Pear Bread
This Banana and Pear Bread is ultra moist and flavorful, blending sweet ripe bananas with juicy pears. Warm, cozy spices and vanilla yogurt create a deliciously complex flavor with a perfectly tender crumb. It’s an easy-to-make dessert bread that fills your kitchen with irresistible aroma as it bakes!
If you’re looking for a quick and easy banana bread, this recipe is it! I love making 3 small loaves from the batter, though you can also bake it in one standard large pan with a longer baking time. Feel free to personalize your banana bread by stirring in a cup of chocolate chips or toasted nuts for extra texture and flavor. For a special finish, you can even drizzle the cooled bread with a simple vanilla icing or frosting.
What is banana and pear cake?
Banana and pear bread is a moist and sweet dessert bread, perfect for a comforting treat or a delicious breakfast snack. It combines the strong, fruity flavor of ripe bananas with the subtle taste of mashed pears for a unique twist. Warm spices like cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg give it a delicious, cozy depth of flavor that’s perfect for fall and winter. The result is a soft, tender loaf with a delightful sweetness and a beautiful golden crust on top.
Ingredients needed to make banana and pear bread
- Bananas: Use ripe bananas for this dessert bread. The riper the better for a deliciously sweet and moist bread with stronger banana flavor.
- Pears: Make sure that the pears are also ripe for easy mashing.
- Butter: Unsalted butter will give you better control of the level of salt in this recipe, but you could use salted butter instead. Allow the butter to soften at room temperature for easy mixing.
- Sugar: I’ve used a combination of granulated sugar for sweetness and a delicious crust on the top of the banana pear bread and brown sugar for moisture and a caramel-like flavor.
- Vanilla yogurt: Provides moisture to the bread batter and offers a lovely tang to balance the sweet flavors.
- Eggs: Allow your eggs to reach room temperature for easy mixing. For an egg-free bread, use 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce per egg.
- Baking soda: Reacts with the yogurt’s acidity for the perfect rise.
- Vanilla extract: For added depth of flavor. Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract for nutty notes.
- Spices: This banana yogurt bread gets a delicious dose of fall-inspired warmth from cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg.
- All-purpose flour: For a lighter texture, substitute 1 cup with cake flour.
How do you make this banana and pear bread?
Prepare the cake batter:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mash the bananas and pears on a plate and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugars, yogurt, and eggs and mix well until creamy.
- Scrape the mashed bananas and pears into the same bowl and gently mix.
- Add the baking soda, vanilla, spices, and flour. Mix well.
Bake the banana pear bread:
- Pour the batter into 3 small loaf pans and bake for 35 minutes OR pour the batter into 1 large pan and bake for 50-60 mins.
Cool and slice:
- Cool the baked bread for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Serving
Serve your sliced banana and pear bread with regular butter or Sweet Spiced Apple Butter, homemade or store bought jam, or whipped cream for a bit of decadence!
This banana pear bread is a delicious addition to your breakfast spread, alongside a bowl of Coconut Almond Granola, this Breakfast Fresh Fruit Yogurt Platter, a Why Protein Shake, or a cozy Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- Storage: Store leftover banana and pear bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- Freezing: Wrap individual slices of this banana yogurt bread in foil and then transfer them to a Ziploc bag. Your banana pear bread will last for up to 3 months and can be thawed later at room temperature before serving as is or lightly toasted.
- Fruity twist: If you don’t like pears, pair the mashed banana with a different fruit. Try my Hawaiian Banana Bread, Strawberry Banana Bread, Healthy Banana Bread with Dates, or Banana Lemon Bread.
- Mix-ins: Add in chocolate chips, shredded coconut, or toasted chopped nuts for added flavor and contrasting texture.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend and add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum if needed.
- Add a sweet topping: For a sweeter dessert option, top the baked and cooled banana and pear bread with a simple vanilla icing/glaze or a luxurious frosting.
- Loaf pan size: I prefer to make 3 small loaves of this banana pear bread by dividing the batter into 3 small loaf pans, but you can make 1 large loaf instead. If you use a large loaf pan, bake the bread for 50-60 minutes.
- Don’t overmix: Be careful that you don’t overmix the bread batter or you will create overly dense bread loaves.
- Test for doneness: Insert a toothpick into the center of each loaf. It should return clean. If you see wet batter, return the loaves to the oven and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Cover with foil: If the tops of your loaves are browning too quickly in the oven, simply cover them with foil.
- How to ripen bananas: To quickly ripen bananas for this bread, place them in a paper bag on a warm counter. The bag traps the natural ethylene gas the fruit emits, which significantly speeds up the ripening process.
If you love banana-flavored treats or have leftover bananas that will otherwise go to waste, don’t miss out on trying Healthy Banana Brownies, Banana Meringue Cookies, or Banana Breakfast Cake.
More dessert breads you may want to try:
- Strawberry Banana Bread Recipe
- Lavender Tea Bread
- Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
- Maple Pecan Pull-Apart Bread
Get the Recipe:
Banana and Pear Bread
Ingredients
- 2 bananas, the riper the better
- 2 pears, peeled, chopped
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup vanilla yogurt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mash the bananas and pears on a plate and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the softened butter, sugars, yogurt, and eggs and mix well until creamy.
- Scrape the mashed bananas and pears into the same bowl and gently mix.
- Add the baking soda, vanilla, spices, and flour. Mix well.
- Pour the batter into 3 small loaf pans and bake for 35 minutes OR pour the batter into 1 large pan and bake for 50-60 mins.
- Cool the baked bread for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
