Strawberry Banana Bread
- By Amy Dong
- Published Apr. 28, 2024
Strawberry Banana Bread is beyond delicious; it’s moist, tender, and makes perfect use of overripe bananas. Bake this for breakfast, snack, or dessert!
In This Article
Why This Recipe Stands Out
This Strawberry Banana Bread is by far one of our favorite Easy Strawberry Recipes. Why this recipe works:
- Use up All the Bananas: Overripe bananas are exactly what we want for banana bread; the spottier, the better.
- Fresh Strawberries: Juicy strawberries and bananas are a flavor combination that’s outstanding!
- Easy-to-Make: Just like our classic recipe for The Best Banana Bread, Strawberry Banana Bread takes just 15 minutes of simple prep.
- Moist and Tender: Banana and berries are stars at making baked goods moist, soft, and tender.
How to Pick The Best Strawberries
When shopping for strawberries, look for berries that are evenly vibrant and deep red in color throughout the entire strawberry. Berries that are lighter in color or whitish near the caps indicate under ripe fruit. Green caps are a good indicator of freshness, while brownish caps should be avoided.
Because strawberries do not continue to ripen once picked, look for berries that are ripened but not moldy. Wet strawberries or stained containers can mean there is mold underneath the fruit, so go for strawberries and containers that are dry.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Strawberries – We recommend sticking with fresh berries, but if you do bake with frozen strawberries, be sure to keep them frozen and chop them up just prior to folding into the batter.
- Bananas – Make sure your bananas are super ripe and spotty for the best flavor.
- Brown Sugar – Make sure your brown sugar is fresh and has not “dried out.”
- Cinnamon – Adds a warm flavor that makes the house smell amazing.
- Eggs – Binds all the ingredients together for a moist, rich banana bread.
- Butter – One stick of butter provides delicious flavor and moisture to the bread.
Substitutions And Variations
Here are some ideas for switching things up:
- Switch the Berries: This recipe can also be made with blueberries, blackberries or raspberries with equally satisfying results.
- Add Chocolate: Craving some chocolate? Try mixing in dark, milk, or white chocolate chips into this recipe. See Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.
- Dairy-Free: Swap the butter for canola oil, olive oil, or melted coconut oil. See our recipe for Healthy Dairy-Free Banana Bread.
- Serve with Ice Cream: We love topping this banana bread with a big scoop of Creamy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream or Strawberry Ice Cream.
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
- Toss strawberries in granulated sugar and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Then, mix in vanilla, brown sugar, and melted butter. Add in macerated strawberries and mashed bananas.
- Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just incorporated.
- Scrape batter into greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for 1 to 1.5 hours.
- Let bread cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How To Prep Ahead
Take a look at these tips and tricks for making this Strawberry Banana Bread recipe even easier:
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Mix all the dry ingredients in advance. It stores well for several weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Freeze Bananas: If you’ve got overripe bananas right now, but don’t have time to make banana bread; simply mash bananas and freeze them in a Ziploc bag. Let frozen bananas thaw and drain before using.
- Freeze Bread: After the strawberry bread has completely cooled, slice and wrap each slice individually. Then pop them in the freezer. They’ll make a great prep-ahead breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Commonly Asked Questions
This bread will stay fresh for up to 3 days covered in the fridge. We love to freeze the individual slices for a treat that will last up to 3 months.
Since we’re slicing the strawberries, there’s no need to worry about the size. Size of berries doesn’t correlate with sweetness, as there are many varieties of strawberries. Just make sure they’re red throughout with little to no white on the top for the sweetest berries.
To help our strawberries stay fresh, we make sure to keep them dry, covered, and chilled in the fridge. Wash them only when ready to use, as any moisture can make them susceptible to mold.
Macerated strawberries are fresh chopped strawberries mixed with sugar. The sugar draws out the liquids in the strawberries, which makes them softer and sweeter.
Did you make this?
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Strawberry Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 bananas, very ripe, mashed
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp table salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup salted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F, with rack on lower middle. Grease and flour a 8×5" loaf pan*
- In a bowl, gently toss strawberries with the granulated sugar, coating all strawberries with sugar. Let sit.
- In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- In separate bowl, beat eggs until slightly foamy. Add vanilla, brown sugar, and melted butter. Add in the macerated strawberries and mashed bananas.
- Using rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into the egg/butter mixture, just until dry ingredients are moistened.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake about 1 hour to 1.5 hours, or until toothpick in center comes out almost clean, with just a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let bread cool completely in pan on wire rack prior to slicing. Overnight works best.
Notes
- For this recipe, we prefer a glass loaf pan. If you use a metal pan, it’s best to use a light-colored one. If you use a darker metal pan, decrease bake time – start checking bread at 55 minutes.
- If you use a 9×5″ instead of 8×5″, plan to decrease bake time. Start checking bread at 55 minutes.
- Chop or gently mash the strawberries for even disbursement of berries throughout the bread. This prevents heavy chunks of fruit from sinking to the bottom of your strawberry bread.
- If desired, you can use a combination of whole wheat and regular flour (up to half of each) or try white-whole-wheat flour.
- Bread can be frozen airtight for several weeks.
- Serve Strawberry Banana Bread with a scoop of Creamy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream for a truly satisfying dessert.
- For extra tips on buying and baking with strawberries, see original article.
Nutrition (per serving)
More To Bake And Eat
- Fresh Strawberry Pie – This strawberry pie encased in a buttery crust is fresh-as-can-be, juicy, and stunningly delicious.
- Fresh Strawberry Crumb Cake – We love serving this sweet, juicy strawberry crumb cake for breakfast or dessert!
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread – This moist, tender banana bread boasts the triple threat status of gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.
- Banana Ricotta Chocolate Bread – Pure ricotta makes this banana bread exceptionally fluffy and creamy. Serve a slice alongside your morning cup of jo for a truly satisfying breakfast.