Fantastically Delicious Pear Bread

This is part of a continuing series of posts chronicling favorite internet recipes we've encountered over the years. Some recipes are in their original form, while most have been adapted to fit our personal tastes and cooking styles.

I've come to the realization that after a particularly bad day at work, I like to bake a little comfort food. Okay, a lot of comfort food.

This is both good and bad. It's good because said bad day usually happens on Tuesday, so I have baked deliciousness to take to knit group on Wednesdays. It's bad because I DON'T NEED TO KEEP BAKING. *sigh* What's a girl to do? Bake, bake, and bake some more.

This recipe was made a full month ago, after seeing a version my friend Shannon made. I NEEDED to make this bread. It looked too good to pass up.

I started with this recipe from SmittenKitchen and modified it a bit to TRY to make a healthier version. I've posted the recipe with my changes below.

3 cups all-purpose wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup egg beaters (or egg replacer of your choice)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large firm, ripe pears, depending on size (you’ll need 2 grated cups total, but I don’t recommend you grate them until you are about to use them, so they don’t brown)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.
Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well.
Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total; set them briefly aside. In a medium bowl, combine the applesauce, egg beaters, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.
Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up. Serve it as is, sprinkle it with confectioners sugar or drizzle it with a simple glaze made from whisking 3 tablespoons buttermilk, a dash of vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar together.

I'm fairly sure I baked mine for less time, although I can't remember now. Maybe 55 minutes? My oven tends to run a little bit hot, though, so I often wind up baking things less than the recipe calls for.