The smell of freshly baked strawberry bread is always so comforting! This fresh strawberry quick bread is cozy, delicious, and just perfect for any occasion.
I was so excited to test out this fresh strawberry bread recipe the other day. After all, I am a huge fan of strawberries, especially in cakes and all kinds of desserts. There’s just something about it that makes me feel at home. When my strawberry bread came out of the oven, I could not wait for slice it and try it. I mean, it made my house smell so good!
This fresh strawberry quick bread is everything I ever imagined! Warm, moist, and tender with the right amount of sweetness, and with delightful bites of strawberry. Serve each slice of my fresh strawberry bread with some whipped cream or creme fraîche. You’ll love it!
How to Bake Strawberry Bread
Baking quick bread is really easy! The best part is that it will make your house smell like heaven. Here I share lots of tips and wisdom on how to bake a great strawberry loaf bread.
So here’s how to bake this fresh strawberry bread:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 inch aluminum loaf pan with butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, mix the wet ingredients: mix the egg and sugar, then mix vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until there are no lumps, without over-mixing.
- Toss diced strawberries with some flour. Why? This will prevent the strawberries from sinking all the way to the bottom when baking.
- Gently fold in strawberries into batter. Pour batter onto prepared pan, and top with a few more pieces of strawberry (without flour) and push slightly down but making sure they are still visible. Why? To make it pretty 🙂
- Bake 55-60 minutes. 40 minutes into baking, cover with aluminum foil to prevent too much browning.
Then all you have to do is remove the strawberry bread from the oven and let it cool slightly. I like mine a bit warm.
Tips for Baking Strawberry Bread
I’ve had may fails with quick breads in my life! But, isn’t that how you learn? From dry quick breads to sunken breads, I’ve seen it all, especially when I was first learning how to bake many years ago. And guess what, I am still learning. Here are my top recommendations and tips for baking the best strawberry bread:
- Use the right baking pan size
- The rule of thumb is to fill up to 2/3 of the pan to give the batter room to rise. For quick breads, most recipes are written to fit a 9×5 inch pan.
- For best results, use light-colored aluminum pans
- Check your baking soda and/or baking powder
- Check the expiration date. Old inactive baking soda or baking powder will cause bread to stay flat.
- Use the right amount of leavener
- If you add too much baking soda or baking powder, the dough will rise too quickly and collapse immediately, resulting in a sunken quick bread
- Resist the urge to open the oven
- Checking too often can lead to sunken or collapsed quick breads/cakes
- Bake at the right temperature
- If the temperature is too high, the quick bread will rise too quickly and then collapse
- I’d recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to calibrate the temperature
- If browning too fast, cover bread with aluminum foil
- Avoid excessive moisture
- Too much moisture (milk, buttermilk, bananas, etc) can make the cake too heavy and prevent it from rising
- Don’t over-mix the batter
How to Avoid Sunken Quick Bread
I briefly touched on sunken quick bread issues in the section above. To make the best strawberry bread and to prevent the middle from sinking, make sure the follow these guidelines:
- Your oven temperature needs to be correct: some ovens tend to overheat, which can cause the bread to rise too quickly and then collapse. You can purchase an oven thermometer to be sure.
- Add the right amount of leavener: this recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking soda only; too much baking soda or baking powder can cause the batter to rise too quickly and collapse
- Don’t open the oven too much: during the baking process, only open it once when you need to cover with foil.
- Avoid too much moisture: too much moisture can make the batter heavy and so the bread will not be able to rise properly. For example, if you add mashed bananas to this recipe, it will likely become too heavy and not rise well.
And that’s all my quick bread wisdom for ya! If you have any tips, please comment below.
Should I Bake Quick Breads with Oil or Butter?
I always struggle with this question, and it’s probably because I like how butter makes baked goods taste. It’s irresistible!
However, whenever it comes to quick breads, I always choose to bake with vegetable oil instead of butter. Oil is 100% fat and lighter than butter, so you’ll get a lighter quick bread with more “separated” crumbs in terms of texture. Baking quick breads with butter tends to yield a denser texture and tighter crumbs, as butter is only 80% fat (the rest is milk solids and water). I personally like my quick breads on the lighter side.
Whew! That was a lot to take in. I hope these tips can help you make the most amazing fresh strawberry bread ever! What I like I about this strawberry bread is that the strawberry flavors are quite subtle, so even if there are actual strawberry chunks inside, it tastes like strawberry infused bread. I love it!
For more tips, see Kitchen Tips below, and please don’t forget to pin this recipe!
If you like baking with fresh fruit, check out these recipes:
Kitchen Tips
- To prevent the strawberries from sinking to the bottom, toss them with some flour before folding into the batter.
- Mix the batter just until there are no lumps, without over-mixing.
- Do not substitute the buttermilk! This recipe only calls for baking soda, which needs an acid component to react. Buttermilk, which contains acid, reacts with the baking soda to make the bread rise.
- Don’t add too much baking soda. Use the amount this recipe calls for. Baking soda is quite powerful.
If you try my recipe, use #cookingformysoul on Instagram! Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook for the latest fun updates and recipes!
Fresh Strawberry Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (divided)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk (no substitutions)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 cups diced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9x5 inch aluminum loaf pan with butter.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In another large bowl, mix the egg and sugar until evenly combined. Whisk the oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and lemon zest until evenly mixed.
- Gradually, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking as you pour just until there are no lumps as best as you can. Try not overmix.
- Reserve about 3 tablespoons of strawberries for later and set aside. Toss the remaining diced strawberries with 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Gently, fold in the floured strawberries into the batter.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Top with the reserved 3 tablespoons of diced strawberries, gently pushing them down into the batter but letting them still be visible. This will make the bread more beautiful.
- Bake for about 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, and until golden brown. At 40 minutes into baking, cover with foil to prevent it from browning too much. Tip: don't open the oven too many times while baking or the bread will not rise properly.
- Let cool slightly and slice. The strawberries inside will look a bit pale, which is normal.
I’m looking for a strawberry bread recipe that I used years ago. I I have a feeling it was this one but the date says it was posted this year. Did you update the post? Is that why I’m confused? Thanks
Hi Sonia! This recipe was posted this year in March 🙂
Can a stoneware loaf pan be used?
Hi Natalie! I’m not 100% sure. I’ve never baked quick breads with stoneware loaf pans, unfortunately. If you try it, please let me know! 🙂
Trying it right now! Two questions. Why is flour listed twice on the ingredients list and why does step 6 say to save some flour for later?
Hi Natalie! I updated the directions to make it more clear. Hope it helps and thanks for trying the recipe! 🙂
Thanks for the help! Using the stoneware loaf pan worked out great! It is delicious!
That’s awesome! Thank you for your kind comment. It put a smile on my face 🙂
I have frozen strawberries we picked this summer. Any suggestions on using them in this recipe?
Hi Beverly, I wouldn’t recommend using frozen strawberries in this recipe since they will turn mushy and watery. If you’re looking for frozen strawberry recipes, I’d recommend this mango strawberry smoothie! 🙂
This recipe is so good!!!! I don’t like to use oil in bread recipes, so I always substitute unsweetened applesauce! Same amount as recipes show, but saves a lot of calories. Try it! You’ll never use oil again!
This is my favorite recipe for strawberry bread!!
Thank you for your kind words, Carol! And great idea, I’ll have to try baking with applesauce one of these days!
Just made this today with my 3 grandchildren. So easy and delicious! We will certainly make this again!
Thank you so much, Jan!
Making bread today thought I use a lemon glaze to drizzle on but lightly
So it’s not to tart. Sure smells good I had enough to cake a small mini loaf along with it
Can’t wait to taste it.
Yum, a lemon glaze sounds lovely!
Hi I know you said no substitutes for the buttermilk but what do you think about sour cream?
Hi Bobbi – I haven’t tried it with sour cream, but I think you can. Let me know how it goes!
Hi –
The recipe itself doesn’t mention at which point to add the strawberries. Your blog post does but it’s not mentioned in the actual recipe itself. Glad I thought to go back and re-read the post! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
You did mention it. Duh. Sorry!
Hi Laurie! Oh, no worries at all! I hope you like the strawberry bread 🙂
I don’t have lemon…do you have to use the zest?
Hi Kristi! You don’t need to use the zest if you don’t have lemon.
I made this bread for my book club today. Everyone including myself loved it. It was very easy to make in fact I made a second loaf using blueberries. Thank you for the recipe.
So happy to hear that everyone loved! Thank you for trying the recipe. I also have a Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe if you are interested!
I’d like to make mini loafers as gifts. It’s a silicon pan that has four molds. Would the cooking time be the same? TIA
Hi! You’d need to reduce the bake time depending on the size of the molds. I’d recommend testing it with a toothpick (when the toothpick comes out clean) for doneness.
I made this today! Your recipe is the perfect answer to strawberries that have been in the frig a day too long. For my version, I used orange zest and added 3/4 cup of finely diced honeycrisp apples, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. ginger. I subbed in some King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour for about half the flour. Even with these modifications, your recipe held up brilliantly! The fragrance of strawberries and orange filled the house. The loaf was scrumptiously moist without falling apart. I agree that it’s fantastic when enjoyed right out of the oven. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe and tips. I feel I have a new go-to recipe that is easy and fun to make. Best bonus: not having to use softened butter.
Thank you so much! Happy to hear!
I’m very happy with this recipe. I didn’t have buttermilk so I added a tablespoon of white vinegar to the milk. I like the texture of the loaf and it’s not too sweet! I will keep this recipe. With blueberry season coming I’ll try your blueberry lemon recipe.
Made this today for my family and my boyfriends family. We all absolutely love the recipe! I added some walnuts, and it’s crunchy on the outside and SO moist on the inside. I’m so happy with the way it turned out!
Thank you for sharing your great recipe 🙂
Thank you for trying it, Angelina!