What’s the happy medium between fresh baked goods and a quick breakfast? Quick breads.
I have always been a fan of quick bread batter breakfasts. Banana breads, zucchini bread, beer bread…so when I heard of strawberry bread, this was the first thing that came to my mind.
I love me a good quick bread because it’s just that – quick and bread. It’s the kind of quick breakfast you can throw together the night before and assemble in a snap during a harried morning. Just mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. In the morning, combine them and bake.
Or, you can bake a bread (or muffin) and freeze for another time. Simply let the bread cool completely, wrap or place in a zip lock bag and place in the freezer for up to 6 months. To thaw, remove to the counter or refrigerator and loosen the wrapper a bit. It’s perfect for company.
My theory is, if I’m going to go through the trouble of assembling one bread, I may as well make two. I mean, I already have the ingredients out. So, I get a workshop going in my kitchen and I freeze the second bread.
Cook once, eat twice.
Quick breads are not leavened with yeast, but baking soda or baking powder. This is why they can rise quickly. They generally start with the same basic ingredients and other additions can be added as desired.
Quick breads all start with:
-flour
-leavening
-eggs (or flax eggs)
-a fat (oil, butter, margarine, applesauce, plain yogurt or combination of these) and
-a liquid (usually milk).
Then the fun part comes in where you can add a variety of fresh or dried fruits, vegetables, cheeses, nuts, herbs and spices.
It’s strawberry season and a pint of strawberries costs about $1.00 - $1.50 now in NYC, so it’s a good time to stock up on them. I usually buy several pints and, if I can reserve some before they’re all eaten up, I slice and freeze them. I’ll then use the strawberries in smoothies or throw them in plain yogurt, chia seed pudding or oatmeal.
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To up the health factor of my quick breads, I use a combination of whole wheat flour and different fats. By substituting up to 1/3 of the white flour for whole wheat flour and mixing very minimally, this bread can be healthy and moist.
And, because I still had quite a few pints of strawberries left, I whipped up some strawberry cream cheese to top the strawberry bread. I used sliced strawberries that had been frozen, as they thaw with some nice juice. Then, I mixed the berries with some softened cream cheese.
Strawberry Bread
10-12 servings
Ingredients, Dry:
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ingredients, Wet:
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, fresh or defrosted if frozen
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Whisk dry ingredients thoroughly in one bowl. Whisk wet ingredients thoroughly through lemon zest. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture. When the mixture is almost completely moistened, fold in the strawberries. Don't overmix. Scrape batter into loaf pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before reverting pan to unmold and cooling completely.
I think strawberry bread is my new favorite! Try it and let me know what you think!
Want to make this strawberry quickbread another time? Pin it for later!