Strawberry Banana Bread

I love banana bread and adding strawberries to an already good thing makes it that much better.

When I saw a recipe for Strawberry Bread at Evan’s Eat Laugh Love for my Secret Recipe Club of the month assignment, I knew I wanted to play around with that recipe and see what I could come up with, and this was the lucky loaf.

If there’s one thing I despise, it’s dry baked goods. Muffins and bread can be among the worst offenders in the dry baked goods category, so I was especially careful to make sure this bread stayed moist.

I did that by adding some brown sugar because brown sugar tends to keep baked goodies moist. There’s a handy chart here about what to add and incorporate for chewy, soft, and moist cookies.

And bananas make anything moist and dense and such was the case with this loaf.

Don’t you just want to bite off the very top layer?

It’s the muffin top principle. Eat the muffin tops because they’re so moist, packed with flavor, and best part of the muffin, and then pawn off the remainder of the muffin onto less-clued in others, like my husband, who isn’t quite the moisture-content-connoisseur that I am.

I promise the entire loaf of bread tastes like a muffin top, so you don’t have to go cherry-picking off the best parts.

Or strawberry-picking, or banana-picking, in this case.

When the strawberries baked, not only did they make my house smell amazing, but they released a bit of moisture, also helping to create a really moist, luscious loaf.

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Strawberry Banana Bread (with Gluten-Free & Vegan suggestions)

 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 medium banana, divided (mash half – about 1/4 cup mashed banana; slice the other half – about 10 thin slices)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg white, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup strawberries, diced (I used TJ’s frozen strawberries, thawed and diced; or try mixed berries)

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a 9×5-inch loaf pan by either lining it with foil, allowing for overhang to easily lift out the bread or by spraying well with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon and stir to combine. Slice a banana in half and mash one half with a fork and slice the other half into thin discs. Add the mashed banana to the dry ingredients and stir. Add the oil, beaten egg white, vanilla and stir until just combined. Gently fold in 3/4 cup strawberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with 1/4 cup strawberries and banana slices, pressing them very gently into the surface of the batter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (Depending on moisture content bananas and berries, cooking times may vary from 40 to 50 minutes). Allow bread to cool before removing it from the pan. Slice and serve as is, or add butter, cream cheese, jelly, or frosting, if desired. Store extra bread in an airtight container on the countertop or store in the freezer for up to three months.

Notes: I suspect you could use this batter as muffin batter. I’d bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F and start watching them closely from there. To keep gluten free, use GF flour. To keep vegan, replace the egg white with a chia/flax egg, egg replacer, or add extra banana or applesauce.

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This bread was very quick to make. A true quick bread.

And it’s almost vegan, shy of one little beaten egg white, which I’m sure could be omitted and replaced with a bit of extra banana, applesauce, or a flax egg.

I hate flimsy, thin little slices of bread that break, crumble, and don’t hold their shape from plate to mouth, so I sliced this bread nice and thick.

There’s that muffin top principle again.

Even though there are bananas and strawberries woven into the bread, it’s the slices of bananas and strawberry pieces layered on top of the loaf that are so tempting.

I love butter on bread. Who doesn’t?

But this bread was so moist that it didn’t even need to be buttered. Not that I would have complained with a pat of butter placed on warm bread or anything, but it was good enough that Skylar and I inhaled half the loaf the minute the pictures were done, sans butter.

Related banana recipes:

Peanut Butter Banana Bread (Vegan, GF)

Banana Crepes Roll-Ups (Raw, Vegan, GF)

Cinnamon Raisin Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Vegan, GF)

Banana Nut Muffins (Vegan, GF)

Caramelized Bananas

I also have a banana recipes post highlighting some of my favorite recipes using bananas.

And if you like fruit in baked goods, try these Mango and White Chocolate Chip Cookies