Strawberry Bread

I don’t remember where my mother got this recipe or when she started making it. All I know is that at one point in my childhood, we made and ate a lot of strawberry bread. My guess is that it came out of the years of zucchini bread. I grew up in New England where the plight of the late summer zucchini infestation is very real. These innocent-looking squash would become mutant hordes within a blink of an eye. Every Yankee knew of 50 plus ways to use the baseball-bat sized squash, and zucchini bread was a

summertime staple. After moving to the Midwest, we no longer feared opening the front door to find a “veggie gift” left on the porch from the neighbors. However, we missed the tradition of the tasty snack bread. 

I have fond memories of this bread, so I’m excited to make it again and see if I can make it turn out as good as mom did.

The Recipe

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups sugar (1/4 cup or more, if desired)

3 eggs (well-beaten)

10 ounce package unsweetened frozen strawberries (thawed and crushed) *(20 ounces unsweetened if desired)

1 1/4 cup cooking oil

1 1/4 cups nuts (pecans or walnuts) optional

*1 teaspoon strawberry extract

Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Make a well and add oil. Mix in other ingredients. Stir and dampen. 

Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 mins or until done (pick clean). 

The Bake

I went for the full 20 ounces of strawberries, because, well, the more strawberry the better, right? I did not add nuts because I never remembered nuts in our batches.

The flavor in question

I wasn’t hip on the idea of using strawberry extract. I couldn’t remember if and when my mom started using it, although she must have if she added it to the recipe. I’ve never liked the taste of artificial strawberry (I was not a Frankenberry fan. I was a Count Cholula girl). For the sake of the recipe, I thought I would try it. I had a tough time finding it though. I went to three different grocery stores before I finally found a natural version at Whole Foods. It smelled much more “strawberry” than the old stuff, so I went ahead and tried it.

Why aren't you baking my pretties?

After 45 minutes, the loaves weren’t close to being done with the clean pic test. I believe this was due to the fact that I did indeed use the full 20 ounces of the strawberries, and, the frozen strawberries I purchased from Whole Foods were FAR superior from the ones we used to get at the Tradewell back in the day. These were plump and full of juice and quite flavorful for frozen (perhaps that is where the addition of the strawberry extract came into play. The frozen strawberries back then didn’t have much flavor). With the additional liquid and moisture, I added almost a 1/2 hour to the baking time. I just kept checking from time to time until I got the clean pick.

The Results

Oh my! One taste took me right back to my mom’s kitchen. Delicious! Just as tasty and addictive as I remembered. Although I could taste it was there, the strawberry extract didn’t overpower the bread, and this particular brand didn’t have that artificial candy-like aftertaste. I think if you have good quality strawberries, you can leave it out, but I liked the flavor.

Finally done! Smells SO good.

I don’t think it needs any additional sugar than the 2 cups. In fact, next time I might back off the sugar just a tad actually. I believe this is due to the higher quality of frozen strawberries used, which were sweeter on their own.

As I mentioned, we never tried it with fresh strawberries. It would probably be tasty, but a different flavor, as the crushed fruit wouldn’t blend through the bread. It would be like banana bread with slices of bananas instead of the ripe puree.

The waiting is the hardest part!

Old habits die hard. I used to be so anxious to get into that strawberry goodness, that I would try and take it out of the pan too soon. I did the same thing again. I didn’t wait long enough for the bread to cool in the pan before turning it out, so the bottom stuck a bit and the loaves started to fall apart. Give them at least 20 minutes to cool, if not more. Also, don’t cut right into it. When warm, it doesn’t slice, it crumbles. Let it cool COMPLETELY before cutting, like over an hour or two. I know, I know. Who can wait that long? You can also pop it in the freezer to speed up the cooling, and it will slice up much nicer. Or, if you don’t care what it looks like, just dive right in.

Overall, it’s a lovely quick bread and a nice alternative to banana bread rut. It makes a tasty treat for breakfast, after-school snack or potlucks.

It’s tasty on its own, but you can also serve it with butter or cream cheese, or, if you want to go for the ultimate strawberry overload, slather it with some strawberry cream cheese (usually can find it next to the regular). Trust me. It’s SO addictive.

Strawberry bread with strawberry cream cheese. Drool-worthy.