I’ve made a creamy banana bread before that we all absolutely love. It is seriously the creamiest and the row of streusel in it really adds a nice touch. When my daughter and I decided to go strawberry picking for a second time this year, I came across a recipe on Pinterest for Strawberry Banana Bread but the more I looked at it, it just didn’t feel like the right direction to go. There wasn’t anything wrong with the recipe, it just felt like something was missing. And then it hit me…why couldn’t I take that original creamy banana bread recipe and simply add strawberries to it.
My decision was not one made lightly. There were several conversations about how well the strawberry addition may or may not do in the bread and we wondered if we’d end up with a row of strawberries at the bottom of the loaf or some soggy mush but our trust paid off and we ended up with the best banana bread I have ever had.
I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did.
- ½ cup margarine, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1¼ c white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mashed bananas (I might go a little heavy on this myself)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- About 5 small to medium strawberries, diced in small pieces
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour either 2 8x4 inch loaf pans or 5 of the mini loaf pans
- Cream the margarine and cream cheese together
- Add in the white sugar slowly and beat until light and fluffy
- Add one egg at a time
- Add in the mashed bananas
- Add in the vanilla
- Add flour, baking powder and baking soda
- Mix all just until moist
- Mix together in a small bowl brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside
- Use about ½ the batter between the 2 large loaf pans or 5 small loaf pans
- Sprinkle a few strawberry pieces on the batter
- Sprinkle a little of the streusel mix on next
- Sprinkle the remaining strawberries on the streusel mix
- Add the remaining batter
- Sprinkle the remaining streusel mix on top
- Bake for about 45 minutes...if using the smaller loaf pans, they may bake faster so keep an eye on them
One final note…next time I will increase the amount of strawberries used and mix it in with the batter. I went very light and didn’t mix it in as I was worried about them sinking. Since they didn’t, I will be trying add a few more. I didn’t want to include this information directly in the recipe since I haven’t tried it yet…mark my words, though, it won’t be long!
Oops…one more note, these freeze pretty well. I like to use disposable tins with lids, write what they are and the date on them and plop them in the freezer.
Wish I baked. It sounds delicious. I love banana bread and I love strawberries.
It is a wonderful combination!
Oh yum Michele. One of my favorite treats are bowls of strawberries and bananas, so the idea of making a bread with them is a brilliant I’ll-definitely-be-trying-it project. And bonus points for getting an extra loaf you can freeze.
How fun you got to go strawberry picking!
It is really a fun activity (for a short time) alone or with the grandkids. I can’t believe how much you can pick in about 30 minutes (4 huge buckets!).