This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
Use the last of the sweet summer berries to make Fresh Strawberry Bread. This moist, flavorful bread is a dream for breakfast when lightly toasted and smeared with a bit of cream cheese.
If you’re looking for a way to use up that last stash of summer strawberries, I’ve got you covered with this Fresh Strawberry Bread.
Although Ohio strawberries were kind of disappointing this year due the weather, we were able to get our hands on some beautiful, sweet berries from a you-pick farm that had really great irrigation. Apparently this makes all the difference when Mother Nature decides it’s going to rain almost every single day for the entire month of June.
THE BEST STRAWBERRY BREAD RECIPE
Believe it or not, I have not always been a blogger.
Before I started My Baking Addiction and for several years after, I was a middle school teacher.
Having a teachers’ lounge to deposit leftover baked goods was convenient and had the unintended side effect of making it widely known that I had started a baking blog.
Once MBA became common knowledge among my fellow teachers, they frequently sought me out to make their cakes, cupcakes and even search for recipe ideas.
This is how Fresh Strawberry Bread was born. A coworker wondered if I had recommendations for a strawberry quick bread recipe she could serve to guests coming into town for her son’s wedding.
At the time I had never made strawberry bread. But of course I was compelled to get into the kitchen and start experimenting.
After a little tinkering and a bit of trial and error, I had a fantastic Fresh Strawberry Bread recipe on my hands.
This quick bread is super moist, dense in just the right away, and bursting with sweet strawberry flavor.
TIPS FOR MAKING STRAWBERRY BREAD
- Use a mixture of butter and cream cheese plus buttermilk for tang
- Use smaller, sweeter strawberries
- Gently fold in the berries
- Enjoy toasted with cream cheese!
Strawberries and cream cheese are paired together so often for a reason: their flavors mesh perfectly! Just try Strawberry Cheesecake Fluff or Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart if you don’t believe me.
To get that same perfect combo of sweet and tangy in this Fresh Strawberry Bread recipe, I like to use a combination of butter and cream cheese. I also use buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute) for the liquid in the recipe.
When shopping for strawberries for this bread, look for smaller berries if you can. These smaller strawberries are usually sweeter and more flavorful than super large strawberries. They’ll make your bread even better!
When it comes time to add the strawberries to the batter, set aside your electric mixer and reach for a spatula to gently fold them in by hand. This will keep them from turning to mush; we want to see chunks of strawberries in the baked bread!
Feel free to enjoy Fresh Strawberry Bread in any way you like, but I recommend one way in particular:
Lightly toasted and smeared with whipped cream cheese.
Trust me, it’s summery heaven in a single bite!
Fresh Strawberry Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries rinsed, dried and chopped
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- With electric mixer cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix.
- Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I followed the recipe except I processed dried strawberries and added it to the dry mixture 1 bag. Threw the dry ingredients into the dry strawberry mix pulsed a couple of times to mix it then proceed with the recipe. What a fabulous punch of flavor. I did that because I was invited to a pink party. That made my bread pink. I didn’t think about the extra flavor. Thanks for sharing.
I love this idea so much, Francine! Thanks for sharing because my little one is obsessed with all things pink!
-Jamie
Tried it tonight it made two 8×5 loaves.They were very moist everyone liked them.
So glad you enjoyed them, Michelle! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
I made this bread and it is delicious! The next morning we toasted some (under the broiler in the oven) and it was even better…toasting it brought out the taste of the strawberries. This is definitely a recipe I will keep.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Janice!
I just made this recipe, and it turned out fantastic! Instead of one 9×5 loaf, I wanted two 8×4 loaves so I increased the recipe by 50% (3/4c butter, 1 1/2c sugar, etc.) and cut the bake time down to 45 minutes, and my two loaves turned out perfectly.
Jennifer-
I’m so glad that the recipe was a success for you. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
Can this be made in a muffin tin? If so how long do I bake the muffins for and at what temperature? Thank you :)
Hi Lee,
You could probably make these into muffins. The temperature would be the same. I would think the time would probably be around 35 minutes, but that’s just a guess. Watch it closely, and when the muffins appear to be golden brown, stick them with a toothpick to see if the center comes out clean. When it does, they’re fully cooked.
– Jamie
I made this 2x this week. The second time I puréed the strawberries to give it more of a banana bread consistency. I liked the chunks, but it got a little soggy surrounding the fruit. Both ways are deliciously moist. Thank you for the recipe.
I am so glad the recipe worked for you. Thanks for visiting!
-Jamie
Hi! I just made this recipe and let me tell you that it was AMAZING! I also gave it a little twist with Nutella and it was so good! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Claudia-
Oooooh Nutella sounds just perfect! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving feedback on the recipe! Have a great night.
-Jamie
Wow! The batter tastes sooooo good! I can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!!!
Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for stopping by Tammy!
-Jamie
Turned out GREAT. I made it with regular milk (in lieu of buttermilk) and ran the strawberries through a food processor. Baked perfectly at 60 minutes.
Kitty-
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for reporting back!
-Jamie
Delicious! I am a gluten-free baker and made just a few adjustments to make this work; coupled with the remainder of the strawberries my kids and I picked last week this is definitely a keeper. Thanks!
Can you share what you changed to make gluten free. Im newly gluten free and want to try this.