Strawberry Bread

Bright and sweet, a loaf of this easy Strawberry Bread with sweet vanilla glaze is bursting with beautiful, juicy berries and a rich, moist crumb!

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword strawberry bread, strawberry bread from scratch, strawberry quick bread

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 58

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 3 13

Servings loaf (10-12 slices)

Calories 307kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups finely-diced fresh strawberries, patted dry and tossed with 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
Optional: ½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined; do not over-mix. Gently fold in the strawberries and pecans (if using).
Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 55 minutes – 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. You may want to cover the bread loosely with foil after the first 45 minutes to prevent the top from becoming too dark.
Allow the bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the bread is completely cool, combine the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. If the glaze seems too thin, add more confectioners' sugar. If it’s too thick, add a small amount of milk.
Drizzle the glaze over the cool bread. Once the glaze is set, slice and serve!

This bread isn't too sweet on its own. It relies on the fresh strawberries for both strawberry flavor and for sweetness, so it's important to use really flavorful, ripe berries in this recipe. The vanilla glaze obviously adds a nice touch of sweetness, too!
To prevent quick breads or Bundt cakes from sticking to the pan, I prefer to use a baking spray (that includes flour). It also helps to run a knife around the outside of the bread while it's still warm and cooling in the pan.
Make sure that you dice the strawberries into very small pieces, pat them dry, and then toss them with flour before folding them into the batter. This will prevent all of the berries from sinking to the bottom.
I prefer a light colored loaf pan (rather than a dark pan), because the darker pans tend to brown or burn the outside of quick breads before the inside cooks through.
Be careful not to over-mix your batter. Gently fold, just to combine. Too much mixing will yield a tough, dry loaf. The batter will seem thick, but the berries release a lot of liquid while they bake.
I like to shield the top of the bread loosely with foil after the first 45 minutes of baking. This prevents the top from becoming too dark, while the rest of the loaf can cook through.