Strawberries in quick breads can be a hit or miss, which is why I very rarely bake them. Sometimes I find the bread too watery and that's just gross. If I have strawberries, I would eat them fresh, in yogurt, cereal, and on pancakes and french toast. But on one fated day, I had TOO many strawberries and they were starting to go bad. I hate to waste food so I decided to use the strawberries in a quick bread and chop and freeze the rest for future quick bread use. I used two separate recipes, using buttermilk (also had too much of) instead of yogurt. Either ingredient will work wonderfully. One trick I learned is to store leftover buttermilk in the freezer, using ice cube trays to portion out 1-2 tablespoons. Therefore when you need buttermilk (because come on, who really uses all the buttermilk in one recipe?), you just need to defrost, stir, and boom! all ready to go.
This strawberry quick bread is perfect for breakfast and/or as a snack. I reduced the amount of sugar per usual and my favorite way to have it is to warm it up and spread a thick layer of peanut butter on top. Yum.
Strawberry Bread
Inspired by Peanut Butter & Peppers and Five and Spice
Makes one 9-inch loaf
Ingredients
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
lemon zest
2 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk or plain greek yogurt
2 cups strawberries, sliced and chopped (if using frozen strawberries, do not thaw)
1 tbsp sugar for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, sift and mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the lemon zest.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together oil and eggs until well blended. Then whisk in the vanilla extract and buttermilk or greek yogurt.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture bowl and stir gently together with a spatula until it is about ¾ths mixed. Gently fold in the strawberries until blended. Do not over mix.
Spoon batter into a 9x5 loaf pan. Sprinkle top with sugar.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until it is deep golden on top and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Shield pan with aluminum foil after 50 minutes to prevent excessive browning.
Cool in pan for ~5 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack or cutting board. Allow to cool further, then slice and serve warm or at room temperature.
