I think my taste buds are finally growing up with the rest of me. I usually don’t like spicy anything (except chai… chai is best when it is super spicy), but lately I have been adding cinnamon and ginger to everything and I even squeezed a jalapeno pepper on my grilled cheese this weekend. Every gingerbread or pumpkin-pie-themed baked good I make comes out delicious but I always think it could use more heat. I’ve started interpreting “1 tsp” of any spice in recipes as “1 tsp piled as high as possible.” It always turns out.
When I saw this recipe for Ginger Spiced Pear Bread on The Daily Garnish, I knew I had to make it myself. Emily is quickly becoming my favorite blogger because she always posts awesome recipes that are pretty simple and have common ingredients.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I don’t do a lot of measuring. I use recipes as skeletons and add spices haphazardly, but I followed Emily’s recipe pretty much to the T. I did add quite a bit of water to the batter because I let my chia-egg sit for too long and it got a little sticky… the final product is very moist thanks to the diced pears, so next time I think I’d be a little less generous with the water until after the fruit has been folded in.
{Vegan} Ginger Spiced Pear Bread (via The Daily Garnish)
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup (loose) brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbs chia seeds + 1/4 cup water (or sub 2 eggs)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup sunflower oil (I used coconut oil)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted, and didn’t miss it)
2 ripe pears, diced very small (I used Bosc because of their firmness)
1/3 cup candied ginger, minced (Emily calls for crystallized ginger, but TJ’s had uncrystallized so that’s what I used)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Combine all dry ingredients and set aside.
In a small dish, combine chia seeds and water and let sit for a couple minutes. The chia seeds will soak up the water and create an egg-like consistency. Whisk in applesauce, oil, and vanilla extract.
Combine wet and dry ingredients. Reserve a tablespoon of ginger, folding in the remaining ginger and all the pear.
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle remaining ginger on top of batter and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool before serving.
This bread tastes like winter. The pears contribute a moist sweetness that keeps the bread feeling light, while the ginger packs a warm punch that only comes through with every couple of bites. It’s cakey enough to have as dessert, and fresh enough to have with coffee for breakfast. I’m already planning to make mini-loaves as hostess gifts for Thanksgiving (can you take loaves of bread through airport security?) and as regular gifts for Christmas. And maybe a few to keep to myself 
I also made some ginger pumpkin spice granola that was simple, tasty, and achieved clumpy granola consistency! I’ve made a lot of granolas and I’ve never been able to achieve clumpiness… until now. I can’t wait to eat this with yogurt!
{Vegan} Ginger Pumpkin Spice Granola (adapted from this recipe)
Ingredients
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sunflower seed butter (or nut butter of choice)
1/4 cup agave (can sub honey if you’re not concerned about it being vegan)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (I ran out so I subbed 1/4 cup organic sugar + 1/2 tbs molasses)
1/8 cup coconut oil in liquid state
1 tbs unsulphered molasses
1/2 tbs vanilla extract (I omitted)
cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg to taste
13 oz. old-fashioned rolled oats
Optional ingredients to add halfway through baking: dried fruit, nuts, seeds. I added organic Thompson raisins, minced candied ginger, slivered raw almonds, and unsalted raw sunflower seeds.
Optional ingredients to add after cooling: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips. I intended to add chocolate, but after tasting the granola fresh out of the oven, decided it didn’t need it (and that’s a big deal because I always add chocolate chips to granola).
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300°. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with a Silpat liner, parchment paper, or greasing it well.
In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, sunflower butter, agave, brown sugar, oil, molasses, vanilla, and spices. Mix in rolled oats until coated well. Spread evenly across baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Mix in optional fruit, nuts, and seeds and bake for 20-25 minutes (I did 27 minutes). Check granola often near the end of the baking time so that it doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before adding chocolate chips (unless you like melty chocolate in your granola). It should keep for about two weeks in airtight containers.
Thanks for trying my granola recipe!
It’s the best one I’ve found! Thanks for sharing