Brown Sugar Pear Bread with Pecan Topping

This recipe had an odd evolution. Or rather, people I tell this to find it odd, while it just seems like baking to me.

I had pears going bad, so I wanted to use them in something. I hate hate hate throwing food away. But I knew I was out of white sugar, so I looked for a recipe to use both brown sugar and pears. As a result, I found this. Then I had 2.5 pears to use instead of just 1, so I needed to double it. But I only had enough flour to make one batch, so I threw 1.5 cups of oats in the food processor to make oat flour for the other half. I also only had one egg, but figured that the extra liquid in the extra half a pear would even out.

Finally, what kind of topping is just nuts and brown sugar without anything to hold it together? I used pecans instead of walnuts because it's what I had, and added a little butter.

All in all, this could have been a catastrophic failure. Somehow, it is one of the best things I've made in a long time, and I think my coworkers would agree.

Brown Sugar Pear Bread with Walnut Topping
Makes 2 loaves
(Adapted from http://southernfood.about.com/od/pears/r/bln307.htm)

Bread Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oats, powdered in food processor
1 cup brown sugar, packed
5 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 pears, chopped finely
1 egg
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup vegetable oil

Topping Mixture
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a stand mixer. Add wet ingredients, and mix until combined.
3. Divide batter into the two loaf pans. Top with topping crumbles.
4. Bake until set in the center.