Pear Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread

1 cup walnut halves

Nonstick cooking spray

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup whole-wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon apple pie spice 3 medium Bosc pears

1 large egg

½ cup canola oil

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed, well drained and patted dry if frozen

Instructions: Heat oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the middle.

Place the walnuts in an even layer on a small baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, until fragrant and toasted, giving them a shake halfway through. Keep a close eye on the walnuts because they can easily burn. Let cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop and set aside.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Spray a 9-by-5-inch glass loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and apple pie spice.

Peel the pears and grate into a rimmed baking sheet or shallow bowl to reserve the juices so you get 1 ½ cups of pulp and juice. Put the grated pears and their juices in a large bowl. Add the egg, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk to combine, then add the dry mixture in two parts until fully combined. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries until they are evenly dispersed. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the middle of the oven rack for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until the bread has domed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Since there is fresh fruit in the loaf, test it with the toothpick in three places.

You might put the toothpick into a cranberry and think it’s not baked.

Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then gently transfer from the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Note: If you don’t have apple pie spice, combine ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg, teaspoon ground allspice and a dash of ground cloves.

Makes 10 servings

From “Trisha’s Kitchen” by Trisha Yearwood

Ben Fink