I cannot tell you how excited I am to share this recipe. This bread is not just shockingly delicious, incredibly easy to make, and looks quite lovely as a little loaf. But it is also good for you. Really good for you. Almost fat free and made with whole wheat flour good for you. No white sugar in the entire recipe (just a bit of honey) good for you. And yet so tasty that you could happily eat it for dessert, I swear.
But first, let me discuss one of the things I love so much about spring. Usually, when I’m making a baked good that involves fruit, I make it using frozen fruit. This is mostly for two treasons: first, fresh berries, for most of the year, are very expensive. Second, fresh berries, for most of the year, are not of very high quality, since they have probably been shipped to New York from China or Australia. I know how fresh I felt after getting off an 18-hour flight from Shanghai this summer, and frankly, I wouldn’t want to put my fruit through that.
But it’s spring, as the 78 degree weather outside is screaming into my ear. And fresh fruit is starting to pop up all over the place — and it’s cheap. With all the talk of rising food prices, I found strawberries at my grocery store on sale for $1.50 a pound (seriously). And what did it inspire? Muffins.
“Hmm, Katy,” I know you’re thinking. “That loaf in the first picture doesn’t look much like muffins.”
But the fact is, I had so much batter from this recipe, that I ended up with a small loaf of strawberry banana bread, six regular sized muffins, and twelve mini muffins. See?
But back to the recipe. I have been on a mega muffin/quickbread kick recently (breakfast, dinner, midnight snacks…). But you will pretty much never catch me buying a muffin in a bakery or coffee shop. Those things are usually the size of my head, and are generally nothing more than a dessert, packed with sugar and white flour and vegetable oil and I’m frightened to think what else.
And the same goes for lots of muffin recipes I looked at — many of them called for a cup of sugar, half a cup of oil or butter, and all purpose flour. Sure, every once in a while I stumbled across a “sugar-free” recipe, but those all used sugar substitutes like Splenda, which I loathe. Have you ever made a baked good with Splenda that’s actually tasty? I haven’t.
So here is my alternative. Healthy and natural and delicious: Fresh fruit, 100% whole wheat flour, a smidge of honey for sweetness, and some sour cream. It doesn’t get any more simple than that, and trust me, these are shockingly good. Twelve hours later, I’d be embarrassed to show you how little of that yummy loaf is left.
Strawberry Banana Muffins (or Bread)
INGREDIENTS:
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1 egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons 100% whole wheat flour
2 tbsp water (eliminate this ingredient if you’re making one large loaf)
Pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries (about 1/2 pound)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine mashed bananas, honey, sour cream, egg, and salt and beat until combined.
3. Add 1/2 cup of flour and beat until incorporated.
4. Add remaining 3/4 cup of flour and baking powder, along with 2 tbsp of water, and beat until incorporated.
5. Stir in chopped strawberries gently.
6. Pour batter into lightly greased muffin or loaf tins. Bake for 25 minutes (for muffins), or 35 minutes (for small loaves). Allow to cool, and serve.
Makes about 15 muffins, three small banana strawberry loaves.
UPDATE: I just took my second batch of these muffins out of the oven, after following the directions written here exactly, and I’m pretty sure I know why people have been having trouble with this recipe. Those sneaky little words “or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean” have screwed everyone up, myself included.
This muffin/bread recipe doesn’t taste nearly as good if you try to get the bread to cook all the way through — it will be tough on the outside and far too dry. So if you wait for a toothpick to come out clean, the outside of your bread will probably be leather. Forget about that silly toothpick.
Instead, bake muffins for 25 minutes and bread for only about 35. The inside won’t look “done” but it’s set enough to hold it’s shape, which is really all you want — that gooey goodness from the cooked strawberries hitting the undercooked muffin dough is what I loved about this recipe in the first place. If you’re worried about eating undercooked dough with egg in it (although I have a hard time believing that any bacteria would survive 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven), cut your muffin in half and throw it into the toaster oven before eating it — it’ll cook off quickly and you’ll get a crispy and delicious muffin.
Also, one more bit of advice — don’t use cupcake papers to line your muffin tins, because you won’t be able to get them off! Just bake them in the muffin tin, well greased.
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58 responses so far ↓
1 grocery » Blog Archive » Strawberry Banana Bread // Apr 24, 2008 at 7:11 am
[...] Editor in Chief wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWith all the talk of rising food prices, I found strawberries at my grocery store on sale for $1.50 a pound (seriously). And what did it inspire? Muffins. “Hmm, Katy,” I know you’re thinking. “That loaf in the first picture doesn’t look … [...]
2 NuJoi // Apr 24, 2008 at 7:25 am
This looks like a great treat. I’ve never thought of strawberry bananna bread before. I like the idea of making it in mini loaf pans. Consider this bookmarked!
3 mimi // Apr 24, 2008 at 7:59 am
i could totally have this for breakfast, like, uh, now!! this looks like a great recipe, definitely going to try it on those nights when i’m craving a treat and don’t want to lug out every ingredient and technique under the sun.
and i absolutely cannot wait for the fresh berries to arrive at the farmer’s market!! blackberries from california were $6.49 for HALF a pint in my grocery store, wtf?!
4 Paula // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:04 am
Your bread looks so great! I’m always looking for strawberry recipes. I’ll definetly give it a try!
5 adele // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:30 am
I was just thinking about muffins the other day (which is odd, because I’m not usually one for muffins) and wondering if I could find a recipe for something fruit-filled and healthyish. This is perfect.
6 Sarah // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:43 am
I can give you my address and you can mail some of that to me if, if you want…
It looks awesome. Time to print off yet another recipe I want to try.
7 katy // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:58 am
NuJoi — Yay! Let me know if you make it!
Mimi — That is frightening — I love blackberries, but not that much.
Paula — Thanks!
Adele — I had two of them for a pre-gym breakfast this morning! It really makes getting out of bed much easier.
8 Erin // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:33 am
I’m printing this out THIS second and rushing to the store for the ingredients! The only changes I’m going to try to make are subbing agave for the honey and fat-free Greek yogurt for the sour cream.
Thanks so much for the recipe!
9 Ann // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:49 am
Mmmm…! I have a wholewheat banana bread recipe and I just KNOW it’ll be so much better with strawberries!
10 China » Blog Archive » Strawberry Banana Bread // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:52 am
[...] sugarlaws wrote an interesting post today on Strawberry Banana BreadHere’s a quick excerptSecond, fresh berries, for most of the year, are not of very high quality, since they have probably been shipped to New York from China or Australia…. [...]
11 Patricia Scarpin // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:23 am
That sounds interesting. I don’t ever think of strawberries when baking crosses my mind.
It looks great, Katy!
12 Elle // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:26 am
How much do I wish I had these for breakfast this morning?? Kashi cereal is good, but it’s no strawberry muffin, that’s for sure.
13 emily // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:35 am
i want this now. im starving and in hte library. how could you!! it looks beautiful!! i love love strawberries and rhubarb in baked cakes and what not…ooooh and with banana…almost beats my favorite (perhaps secnod favorite now) chocolate bannana bread!!
14 Katherine // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’m going to make this summer my “make all of the great recipes from sugarlaws” summer. If the summer is even long enough to do so! haha. I can’t wait to try things like this bread.
15 grace // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:43 am
fact: splenda-ed desserts disappoint me every time.
i’m super-impressed by this recipe. if it’s as tasty as you say (and i don’t doubt that it is), there’s no reason not to have it on hand at all times.
16 brilynn // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:22 am
Strawberry and banana is always an excellent combo!
17 VeggieGirl // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:34 am
FABULOUS loaf recipe, Katy - reminds me a little bit of the strawberry muffins that I made/blogged about not too long ago, with the chocolate-filling :0)
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
18 Recipes within my $135 monthly grocery budget « Stacking Pennies // Apr 24, 2008 at 11:36 am
[...] really natural, normal ingredients combined in delicious ways. For example, today she wrote about Strawberry Banana Bread, a very healthy (no sugar) and delicious looking recipe that contains “fresh fruit, 100% [...]
19 patsyk // Apr 24, 2008 at 1:29 pm
My oldest will be in love with that bread! gonna have to make it, and soon!
20 katy // Apr 24, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I am so excited that you guys are as psyched about this recipe as I am (and I think 19 comments within 5 hours of posting is a record for me)! I’ve been eating these for breakfast since Tuesday, so I can definitely promise that they’re delicious!
21 Deborah // Apr 24, 2008 at 4:09 pm
It sounds wonderful - and even better knowing it’s good for you!
22 holler // Apr 24, 2008 at 5:08 pm
No wonder everyone loves it, it just sounds gorgeous and really flavour packed. I will be trying it too once strawberries are in season
23 Claire // Apr 24, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Yum! Sounds wonderful. I have been loving the strawberries recently. In fact, last week I got the BEST strawberries I’ve had in a while…they were just addictive. This bread sounds great…just don’t have any honey.
24 steamy kitchen // Apr 24, 2008 at 9:46 pm
very tempting….
25 Marc @ No Recipes // Apr 24, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Two of my favorite fruits. This looks delicious! Your comment about flying and freshness made me laugh. Thanks for the great recipe!
26 Julie // Apr 25, 2008 at 8:12 am
Strawberries and bananas are a great combination. Shockingly good and good for you are an even better (and far more rare!) combination. Looks wonderful!
27 April Week 4 Spending Recap « QuarterLife Finances // Apr 25, 2008 at 10:52 am
[...] around the house (yay), and watching some more Netflix movies. I might even tackle those delicious Strawberry Banana muffins that Stacking Pennies mentioned [...]
28 Meghan // Apr 25, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I can’t wait to make this! Looks so good. Yum!
29 Evelyn // Apr 26, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Wow, I just bought Strawberries and wondered what I was going to make. And, now I know:)
Thanks for posting
30 Josie, // Apr 26, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I hit this recipe on stumbleupon. Looked so yummy! I immediatly calculated calories on sparkpeople.com. 83 Calories/muffin, 1.6g of fat, and for those interested 16.5 carbs. I’m stoked! Thanks!
31 MyKitchenInHalfCups // Apr 27, 2008 at 1:34 am
Makes a lot! Certainly you make me believe! And now is the time for strawberries.
32 Ruud // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:48 am
It looks delicious I give it a try.
Greetings Ruud, The Netherlands
33 Deb // Apr 27, 2008 at 10:08 am
Mmmm - I will definitely try this. Love the photos!
34 Cindy // Apr 27, 2008 at 10:38 am
I tried to make this recipe twice and both times when I stuck a knife in it to check and see if it was done the bread deflated and the inside was uncooked yet the outsides were almost burnt. Any suggestions on why. My baking powder is fine I tested it.
35 sugarlaw // Apr 27, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Cindy — Oh no! I definitely have a few suggestions for you.
I made this recipe as muffins and mini-loaves, so the problem could be that you’re making a large loaf, which I didn’t try. That could be the source of the consistency problems, because muffins
will cook slightly differently than a full loaf.
The most minor change is that there’s a lot of moisture in this recipe, so you might want to try reducing some of that. If you’re making a loaf, instead of muffins, there’s less surface area in the oven, so you won’t lose as much moisture in the baking process.
Second, you might want to lower the baking temperature and increase the cooking time if it’s cooking unevenly. Baking at 300 degrees or 325 degrees for a longer time will cook the inside of the loaf more evenly with the outside.
I’m going to add both of these thoughts to the directions above. Hopefully it will work now!
36 kate // Apr 27, 2008 at 2:22 pm
this bread looks very moist and soft. banana i know , but strawberry in bread should be amazing.
37 Julie O'Hara // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:20 pm
That is so appealing…especially in muffin form! For the loaves, did you use a standard “mini loaf” pan or a 8 x 4 pan? I’m guessing mini, but just checking…
38 Kristen // Apr 27, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Strawberries and bananas are one of my favorite combos!
39 John // Apr 27, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Good idea, but the cooking times need major adjusting. 60 minutes for one large loaf, even at 350ºF is nowhere near enough. This loaf I’m currently making at time of writing has been cooking for over an hour and a half and is still as wet inside as runny mud.
40 Andrea // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Strawberries and bananas are a match made in heaven! This sounds so good.
41 Claudia (cook eat FRET) // Apr 28, 2008 at 7:01 pm
on my list
and strawberry season is just hitting…
perfect!
42 StackingPennies // Apr 28, 2008 at 8:44 pm
My large loaf also didn’t turn out… but i sort of neglected the baking powder, a KEY ingredient. So… I can’t blame you for that.
It looked pretty mushy… but also did not rise a bit.
43 Dave Evans // Apr 28, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I tested this recipe tonight and put to put it lightly… NOT GOOD. Unfortunately the reality of it was they were INEDIBLE. I’m no stranger to the kitchen, and I won’t go into credentials here, but I followed the recipe exactly. The result was a dark on the outside, wet on the inside boxed shaped pancake filled with uncooked batter. I made these as mini loaves, at 350 for 45 minutes. And by mini loaves, i mean the pan that makes 8 of them. They take only a slight bit more batter than a standard muffin tin and with other recipes, it translates without fail. It is the recipe here that is flawed, I would consider either a complete revamp or removal cause unfortunately tonight, I have no desert, not even the beautiful box of strawberries I wasted.
44 My Sweet & Saucy // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:55 am
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! Your strawberry muffins look so delicious! And with no sugar too…amazing!
45 katy // Apr 29, 2008 at 11:39 am
Dave — I’m going to make another batch this week to retest the recipe. These turned out so well for me — I’m bummed that people are having trouble, and I’ll do what I can to make sure everything I’ve written is double-checked.
Julie — I used a standard mini loaf tin!
46 Erin // May 1, 2008 at 8:29 am
Quick question…how long did you bake your mini-muffins? Thanks!
47 katy // May 1, 2008 at 9:17 am
Erin — About 20 minutes — I took them out at the same time as my regular muffins, but they were maybe a little bit overcooked. I think about 20 min would be perfect.
48 Jack // May 2, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I was really excited to try this recipe, but I had the same kind of misfortune as Dave. I made one large loaf (which seems to be a problem in itself), and even after cooking it twice as long as suggested, it was still gooey on the inside, and the bread didn’t rise at all, so it was extremely dense, like pound cake. Not much flavor, either. I think I’ll retry the recipe when I buy a mini muffin tin and try it with overripened bananas for more flavor. I’ll try that before totally passing judgement, because they sound great if they turn out right.
49 Susie // May 2, 2008 at 7:00 pm
How much flour do you use? The ingredients listing says 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons, but the instructions say 1/2 cup + 3/4 cup, which is 1-1/4 cup or 1 cup + 4 Tablespoons. Am I missing something here?
50 katy // May 2, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Nope, you’re not, my mistake. My second back was a lot thicker than my first batch of these muffins, so I decreased the flour by 2 tbsp, but totally forgot to update it in both places! Use 1 cup plus 2 tbsp of flour — I’ll change it now.
51 Diane // May 6, 2008 at 1:50 pm
That sounds fantastic! Any extra fruit you can slip into their food helps!
I’d serve this with some decidely unhealthy jam and cream though!
52 Deb // May 8, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hi, I’m glad to read the updates. I first made the muffins in paper, and they totally stuck to the paper. I’ve got to give this another go with just greasing the pan. =)
53 gwen // May 9, 2008 at 4:53 pm
this recipe is awesome! i’ve already make 4 loaves! i take a chunk of bread as a snack, or bigger slice as breakfast and it keeps me going.
even refrigerated, it smells and tastes great!
54 anna // May 10, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Unfortunately, even with the adjustment, this recipe didn’t work for me. I took the muffins out at 25 minutes, but they promptly collapsed, and are really doughy still.
They’re still edible, but I’m glad I didn’t try to make them for guests….
I’ve loved your other recipes, though, Katy!
55 Candy // May 11, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I tried the bread for girls weekend. I think the “girls” were kind saying they liked it. Baking a bit longer would have been better. I also think I would add a bit more honey. The taste was a little harsh to me. I will try it again with riper bananas and a smidge more sweetner
56 Anonymous // May 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
this is bomb-shizzzlen :]
57 janet // May 13, 2008 at 11:57 am
this is bomb-shizzzle:]
58 Anonymous // May 13, 2008 at 11:57 am
this is bomb-shizzzle:]
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