Whole Grain Strawberry Banana Bread

The one thing I’ve always been able to count on is Grandma Dorothy’s homemade bread. I don’t think I have ever crossed the threshold of her cozy kitchen, in all my thirty-one years, without a slice of bread finding its way into my hands.

The most incredible thing about Grandma Dorothy’s everlasting bread trick is that she is mother to eleven kids. Eleven! And she has enough grandchildren and great-grandchildren to populate a not so small town with only her own kin.

I can’t compete with Eleven kids, but I just doubled my brood overnight. Six kids!

strawberry banana bread-2 edit

I’ve only been in this Second Marriage – Six Kids gig for two weeks, but I can tell we have a lot of hills to climb. Blending two families and different parenting styles is an Olympic hurdle on its own, never mind all the laundry to be tackled.

Mealtime with a husband and six kids is all new too. I’m still figuring out how much to cook and what to cook and when I’m going to do all that cooking. And between the six kids, we now have a peanut allergy, a gluten intolerance, some picky eaters, one who never stops eating, one who never wants to eat, a chocolate chip addiction, and a whole lot of adorable freckles. It’s an all new family kitchen around here.

However, if my Grandma Dorothy’s six decades of mothering show me anything, it’s that it is all worth it in the end.

I don’t know how my grandmother managed with her eleven kids. I really don’t know how I will manage with six kids. But, I’m going to take my first cue from Grandma and start with a loaf of bread.

Whole Grain Strawberry Banana Bread

This moist, flavourful bread is easily adapted to use whatever flours you have on hand. It works well with whole grain spelt, whole wheat, or even just unbleached white flour.
4.25 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Servings: 1 loaf
Calories: 2734kcal
Author: Allison

Ingredients

  • 1 cup spelt flour
  • 1 cup unbleached white flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped dates optional
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana about 3 large bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup whole milk plain yogurt greek yogurt works well
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sliced fresh strawberries

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard bread pan and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped dates.
  • In a medium bowl, combine wet ingredients and mix well.
  • Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the banana mixture. Stir until just combined. Gently fold in sliced strawberries.
  • Bake for 55 mins or until golden brown and cooked through. Cool on wire rack before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 2734kcal | Carbohydrates: 452g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 85g | Saturated Fat: 47g | Cholesterol: 515mg | Sodium: 2159mg | Potassium: 1803mg | Fiber: 33g | Sugar: 233g | Vitamin A: 2780IU | Vitamin C: 83.1mg | Calcium: 220mg | Iron: 14.9mg

 

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




29 Comments

  1. Why not add strawberries to banana bread, I like this idea a lot. One of my grandmas had 15 kids and the other 11. Some days I could barely handle 3 🙂 I admire them a lot.

  2. I love love LOVE that you added strawberries into a banana bread! I never thought to do that and yet I adore strawberry banana flavor combinations. You’re so smart 🙂 thank you for inspiring me!

  3. Oh Aimee! wow. you have a lot going on. Lots of love and patience will get you where you want to be. And I do the same thing as you. If I get bogged down, I just go back to the basics (um, strawberry banana bread!)

    1. Ha! Heather, this is my amazing contributor, Allison’s story to tell, not mine. She has recently remarried! Isn’t it a sweet story? <3

  4. This will be going in the oven in about an hour. I am going to make it into muffins tho. I was trying to come up with a quick bread to take to someone as a gift. Doing muffins will allow me to keep a couple for my own breakfast. Sounds delish!!!

  5. I am going to *have* to try this with GF oat flour or GF all-purpose flour!! Love the strawberries and bananas together 🙂 Yum.

    1. Me too! I am at the very very beginning of figuring out gluten free baking, but I’m going to be doing a lot more of it this summer with a gf kid in the house now.

  6. Strawberry Banana bread?! Why did I never think of that I love strawberry and bananas together, definitely going to have to make it now. Thanks for sharing!

  7. So, what’s the word on bread and flours? Is it ever “ok” to make breads with only whole wheat flour? It seems I always see the addition of white; is that just for a lighter texture? Surely “back in the day” breads weren’t made with white flour, were they? Do any of you solely use whole grain flour for your breads, rolls, etc? Thanks for the recipe! Excited to try it once all the strawberries in town are ready!

    1. Adrienne, I added in some white flour because it does give it a lighter texture, but I actually love it with all spelt flour too. I haven’t tried using only whole wheat, though I imagine it would still taste great – just a little more dense. When I make sandwich bread, I normally use a blend of whole wheat and spelt (no white flour) because I think the spelt keeps it lighter than just whole wheat alone.

  8. Would buckwheat flour work in place of the spelt? That’s what I happen to have on hand and this recipe looks so good, I want to try it as soon as possible.

  9. I remember making bread every time I went over to my grandmother’s house, your story brings back so many good memories. Now I just want to make a loaf of bread. This recipe sounds delicious! Thanks!

  10. 3 stars
    It tasted good, but could do with quite a bit less sugar. It was very sweet. I think it could be considered cake.