Spiced Anjou Pear Bread

• light brown sugar↗2 cups
• vegetable oil↗1 cup
• molasses↗1⁄4 cup
• eggs↗3
• salt↗1 1⁄4 teaspoons
• baking soda↗1 teaspoon
• ground cinnamon↗1 1⁄2 teaspoons
• ground ginger↗1 1⁄2 teaspoons
• ground cloves↗3⁄4 teaspoon
• ground allspice1⁄4 teaspoon
• Anjou pears4 very firm d'

  peeled, cored and thinly sliced

• all-purpose flour↗3 cups

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350F (I baked at 325F convection).

2. 2

   Generously grease two large (9X5-inch) loaf pans--the long pieces of pear make the loaves more susceptible to sticking in the pans and falling apart, so make sure you grease generously. (I lined the bottom and sides with a long piece of greased waxed paper, leaving enough extra at the sides to lift the loaf out of the pan.)

3. 3

   In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, vegetable oil, molasses, and eggs; mix in salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice.

4. 4

   Stir the pear slices in, coating them evenly; stir in the flour.

5. 5

   Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

6. 6

   Bake for 50-65 minutes (I baked mine right around 60 minutes).

7. 7

   Allow loaves to cool in pan about ten minutes before removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool.

8. 8

   Note: I halved the recipe, making one loaf, and used 1 whole egg and 1 egg white.