Baking with Berries
It is strawberry season here in North Carolina and we couldn’t be happier about it. We are always excited about fresh berries, but this year especially, we are delighted to see those big, beautiful strawberries in our favorite roadside fields and the local farmers market.
In fact, people are so excited about the strawberries, our closest you-pick fields had to shut down for a couple of days to let the berries replenish. That has never happened since we have lived here.
If you are among the many enjoying strawberries right now, I wrote a blog last Spring on how to clean and store them in your fridge. You can find those tips here.
We eat them lots of ways in our house – cut up on ice cream, a bowl of yogurt or oatmeal, sprinkled on a spinach salad, topping pancakes and waffles, etc. But I do like to bake with them, too.
I have seen some recipes for strawberry bread, and thought I would try that out this week. I tend to lean toward muffins, as I have a spotty history with bread pans and inconsistent baking. But some time before the pandemic hit, I had picked up a nice new loaf pan that was begging to be used, so I gave in.
After studying some recipes online, I landed on one that looked like it would make a nice, moist loaf and wouldn’t require a drizzle, as we are currently running low on powdered sugar.
This recipe called for a simple mix of flour, baking soda and salt. Then you add sugar, one egg, plain Greek yogurt, buttermilk and some canola or coconut oil. And of course, strawberries.
I made the bread exactly as the recipe was written, using coconut oil. It was indeed very moist and delicious, but I wondered even as I was eating my first bite, would it taste even better with melted butter instead of oil? I guess I was channeling my inner Paula Deen.
Anyway, you guessed it. My next loaf was made with a couple of alterations, including melted butter. I also added a tad more berries, because why not? And I eliminated 1 tablespoon of Turbinado sugar for the top of the loaf.
I noticed the difference, but the rest of my family did not. Right from the oven, the loaf baked with butter seemed to have a nicer dome, and I think a richer flavor. For some reason, the loaf with butter also had a better distribution of strawberries through the loaf. But my family couldn’t immediately tell these things when they tasted it.
So, bottom line? Coconut oil is great if you are trying to make it a slightly healthier quick bread and it will certainly taste delicious. But I will probably chose to use melted butter most often because I have that on hand at all times, which is not always true of coconut oil.
I am sure that this bread will be equally delicious when blueberry season hits, too, or even better during that brief, blessed window here in NC when BOTH strawberries and blueberries intersect.
I hope you will give this recipe a try and tell me what you think. Whatever you are baking or cooking right now, I encourage you to buy from local farmers as much as possible. Not only do they have fresher, yummier options than berries sent from across the country, they need financial support right now, too.
Buy local. Bake Often. (Maybe I can make that into a bumper sticker.)
AuthorMelissa JoyDifficultyBeginnerPreheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
Chop the strawberries and toss with the the 1 tbsp of flour. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the 2 cups flour, salt and baking soda and mix well.
In another bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar and the egg. Whisk until there are no brown sugar lumps.
Add the greek yogurt, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract to the sugars and whisk until well-combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
Gently fold in the berries.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and add decorative sliced berries, if desires.
Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar all over the top of the batter, then bake uncovered for 40 minutes.
After the loaf has gotten nicely browned, cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool a bit before removing from the pan. Slice & enjoy!
Leftover bread can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored on the counter for up to 3 days.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
Chop the strawberries and toss with the the 1 tbsp of flour. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add the 2 cups flour, salt and baking soda and mix well.
In another bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar and the egg. Whisk until there are no brown sugar lumps.
Add the greek yogurt, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract to the sugars and whisk until well-combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix.
Gently fold in the berries.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and add decorative sliced berries, if desires.
Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar all over the top of the batter, then bake uncovered for 40 minutes.
After the loaf has gotten nicely browned, cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
Allow the bread to cool a bit before removing from the pan. Slice & enjoy!
Leftover bread can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored on the counter for up to 3 days.
*Recipe adapted from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com
