I couldn’t get enough of this super soft, moist bread that’s bursting with juicy strawberries in every bite. It’s a fast, easy, no mixer recipe and because I used oil there’s no butter to cream and no mixer to dirty.Baking with bananas and strawberries adds so much moisture that it’s impossible to have a dry loaf.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1/2 cup brown sugar or normal sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional if necessary
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 small bananas)
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, quartered and tossed in 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (helps prevent sinking to the bottom of the pan)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease one 9×5-inch loaf pan and flour it, set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the first six ingredients, through vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add 1 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and fold with a spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Add the bananas and fold gently to combine.
- Add the strawberries tossed in 3 tablespoons flour and fold gently to combine. The batter should be on the thicker side. If it’s not, you may wish to add up to 1/4 cup additional flour. All bananas and strawberries vary in their moisture content and the consistency of batters will vary. The berries will release water into the batter during baking and it’s better to err on the side of a thicker than thinner batter by adding additional flour if you deem it necessary.
- Turn batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes or until the top is golden, the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Tip – Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped loosely over it in the last 10 minutes or so of baking to prevent top and sides from becoming overly browned before center cooks through. Bake until done; watch your bread, not the clock and don’t worry if it takes longer to bake than the baking estimates provided.
- Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. Optionally, serve with or glaze with Strawberry Butter, Honey Butter, Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze, or Cream Cheese Glaze.