Strawberry Bread
A quick and scrumptious quick bread recipe! Add in ½ cup of sliced almonds and/or the zest of a lemon for an extra treat. You can also convert this into muffins easily. See adaptation notes at the bottom.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced strawberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Optional Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
¼ cup finely diced strawberries
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk** (optional if you would like to thin it out)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla/almond extract. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
In a small bowl, toss together the strawberries and the 2 tablespoons of flour to coat the strawberries (this helps keep them buoyant in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom). Fold the floured strawberries gently into the batter.
Pour the bread batter into a greased 9"x5" bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bread should come out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the optional glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, diced strawberries and extract in a small bowl. Mix until it is smooth.
Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Slice and serve.
Converting a Quick Bread Recipe Into Muffins:
Converting a quick bread from a loaf into muffins requires a couple of major tweaks: a higher oven temperature and a much shorter cook time.
If you take a quick look at a few muffin recipes, you'll notice most recipes cook at temperatures between 375 F and 425 F. If your quick bread recipe bakes at 350 F for 60 minutes, try baking at 375 F for 30 minutes or even 400 F for 20 minutes. Since you don't have an exact cook time, use the toothpick test starting at 15 minutes and keep a close eye on the muffins. Once the muffins start looking golden brown on top, you should definitely check them with a toothpick. If they aren't quite done, test them again every 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean and then remove them from the oven to cool.
Recipe Source: Tastes of Lizzy T