RouxBDoo's Christmas Pear Butter Bread

I was never much of a baker.  I love to cook, fry, saute, etc, but baking has only recently interested me.  Of course I have baked biscuits, cornbread, etc but I am, more and more, looking for tasty breads and loaf cakes to experiment with.

This summer I made a ton of Pear Butter.  I had friends with wonderful pear trees just draped in pears.  We took advantage and made some of the best pear butter ever.  You can certainly use apple butter with this recipe since it's easier to come by.  You can also use raisins instead of the Craisins®, but I think that's part of it's charm.  As a matter of fact, I got the original recipe from AllRecipes.com and from a Apple Butter Bread recipe by a contributor named Bruce Stone.  I made some changes and this is my version.

I made this for Thanksgiving, but it's a very Christmassy dessert. The Craisins® in it are what makes it perfect.

1 1/4 cups pear butter (or apple butter)
6 tbs butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup Craisins® (dried cranberries)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan with Baker's Joy or a similar product. Combine flour with baking soda, and baking powder.  Next add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves in the bowl and combine well with a wire whisk.  Next, in a separate bowl, use the wooden spoon to mix the butter with the sugar. Beat the egg, add it to the bowl, then the pear butter, combine all your these ingredients together. Add your flour mixture until just incorporated. Add the Craisins® and walnuts, mix well and pour into your loaf pan.

Bake in the oven for 55 minutes.  Turn off oven and let bread remain for 30 mins. until oven has cooled down.  Remove cake from pan and store wrapped in parchment paper, inside a gallon zip-loc bag.