Glazed Pineapple Guava Bread is a quick bread (AKA short bread), and if we're being honest, that means cake! This sweet, subtly tropical-flavored bread is lovely for breakfast with coffee or after dinner for dessert. And any time in between, of course!
A friend and neighbor has a pineapple guava tree in her yard, and I'm a fortunate recipient of a big bag of this delicious tropical fruit every year.
As a result, I've made a lot of pineapple guava recipes over the years.
This Glazed Pineapple Guava Bread, with its sweet tropical, nutty flavor is one of my favorites.
The texture is soft and it makes for a great anytime-snack, a perfect breakfast with coffee, and a delightful dessert after dinner.
Above: Pineapple Guavas -- one of many different guava varieties.
What You'll Need
- unsalted butter - It's always good to bake (and cook) with unsalted butter so you can ultimately control how much salt is in a finished recipe.
- Pineapple guavas - Guavas come in a range of varieties. Size and color vary greatly, from yellow and green skin, to white and bright pink flesh. I use Pineapple guavas (also know as Feijoas) in this bread. They’re a deep green color with a creamy-light pinkish interior. Choose ripe guavas that are soft with a little bit of give when lightly pressed. You can also tell a guava is ripe by its tropical scent.
- crushed pineapple in juice
- eggs
- golden brown sugar
- pure vanilla extract - I like this one.
- all-purpose flour – You can also use gluten-free all-purpose flour.
- baking powder - If you don’t bake regularly, it’s a good idea to check to be sure your baking powder is still good. To do so, pour a couple of tablespoons of boiling water over about ¼ teaspoon of the baking powder. If it starts to fizz, it’s still good.
- allspice
- powdered sugar
- salt
How to Make Guava Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350° F, and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Cut the guavas in half, and use a small spoon to scoop out the flesh -- you need about ¾ cup.
- Add it to a blender with crushed pineapple and blend until you have a smooth purée, about 10 seconds on high.
It will look like mashed banana.
- Remove about ¼ cup of the puréed fruit, strain it and add it to a small saucepan. Set it aside.
- Pour the remaining puréed fruit into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until you have as smooth a mixture as possible.
- In a second mixing bowl, evenly combine the flour, baking powder, salt and allspice. Then fold the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix in the melted butter.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until it doesn't move when jiggled, about 50 minutes. It should be golden brown and cracking on top.
- While the bread is baking, gradually sift the powdered sugar into the saucepan with the strained fruit purée, whisking as you go. Place the pan over low heat and continue to whisk until there are no lumps. It will look like applesauce. 
- Drizzle the bread with the glaze while it's still warm.
Important Recipe Tips
- Everyone's guavas will be different! It would be impossible for them to be the same, unless we all picked them from the same tree, the same day, and they just happened to be the same size. Some will be super juicy, some might not be juicy at all. And . . . we might all scoop out more of less of the fruit. Whatever the consistency, however you scoop, you will need ¾ cup of the flesh.
- You can substitute the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour all-0. It's been tested with Cup4Cup and it works very well.
- Don't worry if the glaze is on the thick side, you can spread it over the top with a flat-edged spatula, or thin it a bit by whisking in a little bit of water.
- While I love the Pineapple Gauvas, any variety will work well.
How to Store it
- The bread can be made up to two days ahead of time — and you can keep it at room temperature, in an airtight container.
- After two days, it can be refrigerated for a few days, or frozen for up to about three months, wrapped tightly. (If you freeze it, using Ziploc freezer bags is easy.)
*Ideally, the glaze should be added close to when you want to serve it.
When is guava season?
Guavas are typically in season in the fall and spring.
If you're loving guava season, you might also like this No-Churn Pineapple Guava Ice Cream.
Enjoy!
Glazed Pineapple Guava Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh Pineapple guavas
- 1 (8.25-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup packed golden brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Set the oven and prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350° F, and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Prepare the guavas. Cut the guavas in half, and use a small spoon to scoop out the flesh -- you need about ¾ cup of it. Add it to a blender with the entire contents of the can of crushed pineapple, and blend until you have a smooth purée, about 10 seconds on high. You should have 1½ cups of the puréed fruit.Remove ¼ cup of this mixture, strain it, and add it to small saucepan. Set aside.
- Make the batter. Pour the remaining juice into a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until you have as smooth a mixture as possible. In a second mixing bowl, evenly combine the flour, baking powder, salt and allspice.Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, fold in the the melted butter, and pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake. Place the pan in the preheated 350° F oven and bake until it’s completely solid and doesn't move when jiggled, about 50 minutes. It should be golden brown and cracking on top. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze. While the bread is baking, gradually sift the powdered sugar into the saucepan with the guava, whisking as you go. Place the pan over low heat and continue to whisk until there are no lumps, just a minute or so.
- Drizzle glaze, slice and serve. Once the bread has cooled to room temperature, drizzle or spread it with the glaze. (You will likely have more than enough.) Slice and serve.
NOTES
NUTRITION
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Fareeha
I just can't even imagine the flavor in this bread. Pineapple, guava, vanilla extract.. wow.. I just can't wait to try it out.
valentina
I hope you do! 🙂 Thank you!
Tisha
I love the combo of pineapple and guava!!
valentina
me too! 🙂 thanks!
Adrianne
This is soooo tempting me to grab some guava and whip it up this afternoon! The light on the photos is beautiful too. I went to LA a long time ago now - we saw Caroline in the City being filmed and stayed at a place called 'The Banana Bangalow', what an adventurous city!
valentina
What fun that must have been! Hope you love the bread (I mean, cake!) 🙂
Natalie
Wow this bread is stunning! Looks so moist and yummy!
valentina
Thanks so much, Natalie!
Ruchi
I tried a pineapple apple guava not that long time ago in California and fell in love with them. How creative is it to make a bread with it!
valentina
Thank you! Hope you can try it one day?
Ron
Very interesting info on the guava. Although I've tasted them in previous travels, I've never seen them over here. I'll inquire with my fruit market lady and see if she can get some because I love the sounds of your Pineapple Guava Bread recipe. Perfect for our Swedish fika tradition.
valentina
So I just looked up Swedish Fika and I love it! What a lovely tradition. We should all be taking time out of the day for this. Is the break in the day 30 min? an hour? or whatever you want it to be? Along with coffee of course. 🙂
Deb|EastofEdenCooking
A few years ago my neighbor gifted me a bag of pineapple guavas. I also made bread from the guavas. But your lush recipe goes a step further, that glaze is fabulous!
valentina
I love that you made bread with the guavas too. Your baked good are always so beautiful!
David @ Spiced
Wow, you are so lucky to have a steady guava supply like that! I also find it really cool that your kids are going to the same schools that you did. (Hopefully the teachers have changed, though!) I'm all about quick breads, and I can definitely say that I've never had a guava quick bread. Sign me up for this one! 🙂
valentina
Hope you can get your hands on some guavas and try it. 🙂 Funnily enough my 14-yr-old has has the same tennis coach I did in high school -- he's still there. 30 years later, it helps me feel young. 😉
David
Here, in Tucson, we can grow pineapple guavas but they never seem to fruit. However, we eat the blossoms and they are quite tasty! I wonder if I could get these in the market? The bread sounds like a wonderful tart and sweet combination.
valentina
I never thought to eat the blossoms -- I will have to tell my guava supplier. 🙂 She'll be thrilled as she's always cooking up new things.
Maryln Moore
Please help! I made this recipe this morning. The bread came out gooey. I am not an ace baker so maybe my pineapple guave measurement was way off. I googled it and 3 pounds of fruit it said, equaled 6 cups. It seemed like a lot of liquid (thick though it was) I was soooo hopeful because just in sampling the mixture before baking, it tasted wonderful. I want to try it again as my tree is giving me plenty of fruit but I don't want to mess it up again. Any advice would be helpful.
valentina
Hi Maryln, I'm so sorry this didn't turn out right. It's sounds like one of two things: one, it wasn't baked long enough, or two, there was too much liquid. Did you remove the 1/4 cup for the glaze? I will give you an exact measurement of cups ASAP. (I should have done this to begin with.) Hang tight and I'll get back with the measurement. ~Valentina
valentina
Hi Maryln, Unfortunately my guava source in the neighborhood is all out, and the local markets don't have them. I know the 6 cup yield on the guavas is way too much -- I'm not sure how that happened -- maybe yours were much juicier than mine? I still plan to retest asap, but in the meantime, I think you want about 2 cups of the guava juice. I'm sure you did, but just in case, don't forget to drain the pineapple, and drain the seeds out of the guava juice. I hope this helps!~Valentina (& Happy Thanksgiving!)
Maryln Moore
Thank you for your advise! I still have plenty of pineapple guavas left, so I will give it another try and let you know.
valentina
Hello again, Maryln, I've finally been able to retest this recipe and I've edited in the exact measurements of the juice/pulp of the 3-pounds of guavas. The scooped out fruit should be 2 cups, and after straining, there should be 3/4 cup. I also added some helpful tips in the post. Forgive how long this took. I just yesterday got my hands on guavas again. 🙂 ~Valentina
Virginia
Can I use crushed pineapple in 100% juice instead of in syrup? Will it yield a different consistency of the bread?
valentina
Hi Virginia. Thanks for writing in. Yes, you can use the pineapple in juice. Even though you drain it, it might be a tad less sweet, but should work well. Hope you enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina
Maggie
It sounds as if you refer to puree when you state "juice" in the recipe. Is that correct?
valentina
Hi Maggie. The "juice" is what is produced from pressing the "purée" through the fine mesh strainer. I hope this makes sense and enjoy! 🙂 ~Valentina
Rebecca
Just looked up this recipe again after my first attempt flopped. The nonprintable intro ingredients show 1 1/4 cups pd sugar BUT after clicking on the full printable recipe it has pd sugar at 2 Tblsp and not listed in the directions to add any pd sugar to the dry ingredients. Only for the glaze (2 T). When I made this all I had access to was the printed recipe. Should have gone with my gut that something was not right. Very bland and needed sugar. How much pd sugar did you put in the bread itself? Thank you so much!
Valentina
Hi Rebecca. Thanks for writing in and I'm sorry you found this confusing. I'm not sure where you are seeing "1 1/4 cups powdered sugar." There is 1/2 cup packed brown sugar listed in the ingredient list -- this goes in the batter, and yes the 2 tablespoons powdered sugar is for the glaze. I'm going to email you an image of how it looks on my screen. I hope this helps. 🙂 ~Valentina